Frozen Homelands
by TheAmericanPrussian
Summary: When Bunny picked up Sophie in the warren it was described as if he was remembering something, maybe he had his own family once upon a time. Once upon a time he did. Once upon a time he had a mate, a young winter pooka by the name of Esper. This is Esper's strory. Pre!movie Pooka!Jack JackRabbit FrostBunny
1. Prologue

The cream colored doe screamed in pain, pushing with all his might as his claws tore up the nest around him. The shape shifter's first kit lay calmly beside him, seemingly waiting patiently for her unborn littermate.

With a final push, the second and final kit slid out of his dam's womb, mewling loudly. Evergreen chuckled weakly and reached for the kit, grabbing a small towel that lay off to the side.

The kit was small, several ounces lighter than his older sibling, but still a healthy little male.

The winter pooka quickly wiped down the newborn, carefully removing the birthing fluids.

When Evergreen was satisfied with the baby's cleanliness the new mother lifted the kit to his breast, giving him the first meal of his life. The young male latched on and suckled for several minutes, greedily guzzling down his dam's milk. When he was finally done the kit let go with a small pop and lay still in his mother's arms.

Evergreen gave a small smile and nuzzled the kit, feeling the baby's soft white fur rub against his cheeks. "You are adorable," the doe whispered, his strength beginning to fail him, the strain of the past few weeks finally catching up with him.

Delicately, he lifted up the other kit and settled both together in his arms. The siblings immediately cuddled together, the female's head on top of the males. Evergreen smiled and lay down; curling around his kits as his strength slowly began to fade.

The doe chinned the cuddling littermates and let out a small sigh, "I'm so sorry Rue, I love you... all of you." Evergreen slowly closed his eyes and went still, still curled protectively over his newborn litter.

Nearly a mile away in the midst of a fierce battle_,_ the doe's mate felt her bondmate begin to fade, a gaping void beginning to form where their connection used to be. The female buck went ridged, a strangled cry escaping her lips.

Rue's vision flickered as her lifeforce began to fade, her magic trying in vain to revive her nearly dead mate. The armored winter pooka swayed slightly and began to fall, the life slowly draining from her eyes. Around her, the battle began to fade, the clang of metal becoming more and more subdued before falling completely silent

The last thing she saw was a vision, a memory sent to her by her mate...

Two adorable healthy kits, curled up together in their mother's arms. Rue hit the ground and with that the royal winter pooka pair were no more; their souls having left together for the afterlife.

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><p>IMPORTANT READ<p>

Something needs to be explained. This is _not_ an OC x Bunny story. This character is supposed to be the winter sprite we all know and love. Just as a bunny with a different name and a few extra surprises. I know I will not capture Jack completely. It will end up with him following more of his fandom personality than his cannon personality. I will try to get him though. He is a really hard character to get right.


	2. Chapter 1

Yo guys I'm back! First off I am absolutely amazed at the response I got from this. I got an amazing amount of views for this story! Even more impressively, I got a grand total of four reviews, eight favorites, and seventeen follows on. On Archive of Our Own I got one comment, two bookmarks and fourteen kudos! I am absolutely blown away guys! Thank you so much! I guess I hit a plot gold mine! Actually now that I think about it, I've never seen a story that is about Bunny (and Jack in this case) growing up. I've only seen flashbacks of a mate or when the fearlings attack. Holy shit does that mean that I made a completely original story that no one has done before 0.0 Well if you have send me a link, cause I want to read it. Anyway on with the chapter!  
>Disclaimer: TheAmericanPrussian is not claiming to own ROTG or associated works<p>

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><p>The nest's doors flew open; the locks finally have given way to the force of the attacks on them. A brown pooka stood in the doorway, breathing heavily. Catching their breath, the pooka walked forward towards the birthing nest.<p>

There in the nest lay the body of the now desceased Queen Evergreen of Winter, the doe's body wrapped around her new born kits. One of the kits let out a small squeak, trying to beg milk from the dead doe. It's litter mate shifted against it's Dam's unmoving side, disturbed by the other kits cries.

The pooka walked forward silently, a small pitying look on his face. The queen would never know her kits, never get to watch them grow up and have families of their own.

The pooka sighed; it was a miracle that the kits had survived not only their sire not being present for their birth but their parent's death as well. Pooka kits needed constant pulses of magic from both parents in order for their own magical core to develop. It was extremely important that the sire send magic into the kits immediately after their birth so that the trauma of being expelled from their mother's womb didn't kill the kits. The kit's dam must really have been something if he managed to keep them alive.

Throughout the kit's childhood the parents would send bits of magic into the kits, helping the kit's develop and creating a bond between the parents and the kit. At birth the bond was absolutely necessary so that the kits wouldn't die immediately. The loss of the bond, especially this early, would almost always kill the kits, taking them to the afterlife with their parents.

The buck sent a pitying look at the kits; they needed a set of surrogate parents as soon as possible if they wanted to live. He leaned down and carefully picked up the kits. The larger kit stayed completely still but the smaller began to wriggle.

The white kit opened his mouth and whined, pawing at the brown buck, clearly searching for his dam. The adult cooed softly, "it's alright little one, I've got you, you're going to be just fine." The small kit paused in his movements. He gave a small whimper then curled his legs under himself, laying still.

The buck chuckled softly and set out of the room. He walked along the abandoned wooden hallways, all of the servants having set out to fight the battle in the bucks' case or hide out until it was over in the does' case. His footfalls made soft thumping noises as he walked, careful not to jostle the sleeping kits. The buck lifted his head to scent the air.

A soft breeze carrying the scent of blood and grass came from up ahead. Speeding up, the buck turned right, then left, then right again until he came across the small wooden door that he had entered through. The buck pushed open the door and was greeted with the goriest thing he had ever seen.

Bodies lay everywhere, their blood soaking the soil, weapons lay strewn about, resting where their wielders had dropped them when they had fallen. Remains of spells were evident throughout the battlefield. Craters where the earth had been pulled out, torn vines grabbing random bodies, fires raging across the battlefield. The most obvious however, was a huge circle of giant jagged ice spikes in the middle of the field.

That had been where King Rue had unleashed her power over Winter when the battle had begun to turn against her forces. The king lay in the middle of the circle, an oddly peaceful expression on her face.

The buck shook his head and walked towards a tent pitched away from the battle. Slowly he approached the tent and cleared his throat, alerting the guards to his presence. The two guards stood aside and after announcing his presence, allowed him inside.

The buck bowed, "My king I have done as you asked, these are the kits of the deceased Queen Evergreen Frosti and King Rue Frosti of Winter." King Valerian Bunnymund of Spring looked up.

"Ah thank you, hand them to me would you," he said, reaching for them. The brown buck handed him the twin kits.

King Valerian looked at the buck, "I don't suppose Queen Evergreen named them before he died."

The buck shook his head, "if he did sire the names are lost, no one was in the room when I retrieved the kits."

The blue gray pooka nodded, "Then their naming falls to me."

The king sniffed the kit lightly, "a male and a female. The white kit is male, the dark gray is female." The king considered for a moment, "the female's name shall be Amaya, her coat is almost the color of night rain. The males shall be Esper, he looks like a ghost or some other spirit."

The brown buck nodded, "Fine names my lord."

Valerian looked up, "you may go, you did well." The brown pooka bowed and exited the tent. The spring king looked down at the kits then looked up, "guards, one of you go and get my son, I have news I must share with him."

"Yes my lord," one of them called, and bounded off in search of the Spring Heir. Amaya squirmed slightly, reaching out and putting her paws on her brother's head. Esper whined and turned his head, knocking her paws off of him. King Valerian gave a slight chuckle at the kit's antics.

"My lord, Heir Rowan has arrived," the guard called. Valerian's son pushed his way into the tent.

"Father," he acknowledged, nodding to his father. Valerian nodded in greeting.

"Are those the kits of the late King and Queen?" Rowan asked, stepping forward to take a closer look.

The other nodded, "yes the white kit is a male by the name of Esper, and the other is a female called Amaya."

The heir nodded, "why have you called me father?" He asked, getting straight to the point.

Valerian chuckled, "Ah my ever impatient son, no beating around the bush for you." Rowan snorted. "This is the first litter of the late royal couple and the kingdom of Winter has no other heirs. That means that one of these two will grow up to be the King or Queen of Winter. They have no relatives and the forces of Winter are decimated, they would be unable to protect the kits well. It would be... Inappropriate for me to raise them myself so I would like you're opinion on where they might be safest."

The heir considered this for a moment then spoke, "My great grandson, the fifth and final heir of Spring lives in a colony on a small planet called Terra located on the outskirts of the galaxy. Perhaps there the kits would be safe."

The king nodded, "That would be perfect. Take the kits and send them to Terra, alert him that the kits must be given a family to care for them."

Rowan nodded, "very well, is that all you needed to speak of?"

King Valerian nodded, "yes that is all, you may leave Rowan." The younger nodded and walked forward, taking the kits from his father.

Rowan exited the tent and walked toward the hanger bay of the palace of Winter.

After nearly a ten-minute walk he arrived in the hanger bay. Rowan looked up and down the resting space crafts until he saw a small two-person ship parked near the back. The spring pooka walked towards the space ship. He pressed a button on a control panel next to it and a ramp came down from the belly of the ship.

Rowan went up the ramp and entered the small cockpit. Looking around he saw the small padded box used to transport small kits. He approached the box and settled the kits inside, strapping them in carefully.\

After the kits were secured he sat down in the pilot's chair and strapped in.

He flipped several switches and pressed a lot of buttons, turning the engine on. Carefully he eased the crafted out of its parking spot and into the hanger bay. After pressing several more various buttons he guided the ship out of the hanger bay and into the air.

The ship quickly climbed through the atmosphere, the green and white landscape of the planet blurring beneath them. Rowan sent the ship out of the atmosphere of the planet, into the reaches of space.

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><p>Later<p>

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><p>Rowan landed the ship on the makeshift landing pad on the planet Terra. The buck unstrapped himself and stood up, stretching. He went over to the kits and unbuckled them.<p>

Esper whimpered and nuzzled into him, trying to protest at the movement. Rowan chuckled and stroked the kit's head, trying to calm him. A moment later the white kit settled and nuzzled at his sister.

The Heir pressed a button to lower the ramp and walked out.

The sight of his great grandson and his mate greeted him. Kale nodded in greeting, "Great grandfather to what do I own this honor?"

"Kale," Rowan acknowledged, "the royal Winter couple are dead."

Cala, Kale's mate, gasped, "How did they die?"

Rowan frowned, "Rue was in the middle of a battle and Evergreen went into labor. The kits survived but Evergreen and Rue didn't make it." Rowan revealed the two kits. "Father and I thought that they would be safest here with you," he continued.

Kale frowned, "we just had a litter, we can't take them in."

"Wait Kale, Lilliana and Hawthorn don't have any kits, perhaps they would be willing to take them in," Cala suggested.

Rowan turned to her, "would they be willing to?"

The doe nodded, "I think so, they've been trying for kits for a couple seasons but they haven't had any yet, I'm sure that they'd be willing to take these two in."

Rowan smiled, "perhaps we should go see them."

Kale nodded, "follow me," he walked off into the thicket of trees. The other two followed him towards Lilliana and Hawthorn's burrow. The three pooka stopped in a clearing about fifteen minutes away from the landing pad.

A beautiful light brown and white pooka met them in the clearing. "Cala what's the matter? Why do you look so upset?" Lilliana asked, approaching the other doe.

Cala walked towards her, "Lilly the royal Winter couple are dead, they died in a battle only a matter of hours ago. Queen Rue had just given birth to a litter before they died. Their kits are still alive and they need a family. Normally Kale and I would take them in but we just had a new litter. We were wondering if you would be willing to take them in."

Lilliana blinked, "can I see them?" She asked. Rowan nodded and stepped forward, holding the kits out to her. Lilliana walked forward and picked them up, cradling them gently. You could practically see her heart melting.

A soft thump announced Hawthorne's arrival. The buck was big, a large muscled ginger with a kind but somewhat stern disposition. Lilliana turned to him, a fire burning in her eyes.

"We're keeping them," she said, her tone leaving absolutely no room for argument.

Hawthorne chuckled and held his hands up in surrender, "It's fine with me love."

The doe beamed and turned to their guests, "what are their names?" She asked, cuddling the fluffy kits to her chest.

"The gray female is Amaya, the white male is Esper," Rowan said, approval clear in his eyes.

"Night rain and a being with paranormal abilities... Fitting names," she murmured.

She turned to Rowan, "we'll take care of them."

The buck smiled, "thank you Lilliana, Hawthorne. I must go back, there are a lot of things that still need to be sorted out." The pair nodded and watched as he turned and ran back to the starship.

Kale and Cala nodded at the other mated pair and ran back towards their burrow and their kits. Lilliana turned to her mate, "they're so adorable. And so tiny too!"

Hawthorne chuckled and walked to his mate, "that they are love, that they are."

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><p>A.N. And there you have it! The first real chapter of 'Frozen Homelands'. I had this chapter almost completely written up but I decided that I jumped too far ahead and needed to explain things that may be important later. Well it'll make for more cuddly times later~ also since it's almost completely written you guys will get the next chapter sooner! I tried to get this as long as possible and I'm hoping when I add this last bit to the document it'll reach two thousand words! Anyway if you guys liked it R&amp;R and I'll get back to you guys as soon as possible! You know, I was sorely tempted to make Esper and Bunny adopted brothers just for the drama.<p>

TheAmericanPrussian out!


	3. Chapter 2

Hello my lovely readers, I am back! So earliest today I was like 'ok I uploaded a chapter of Guardian Angels, I wonder how it's doing *checks* awesome it's doing really well! You know I might as well check Frozen Homelands while I'm here *checks* HOLY SHIT WHAT THE ACTUAL FUCK!' I checked and the follows jumped from sixteen or eighteen to twenty eight. TWENTY FRICKEN EIGHT! OH MY GOD! You guys are amazing! Thank you so much :D

Yeah this was supposed to be the first chapter but I decided that I wanted to describe how they got here first. So without further ado, Frozen Homelands!

Disclaimer: If I owned Rise of the Guardians or Guardians of Childhood. If I did Jackrabbit would be canon as would North and Tooth. (Not sure what that's called) Also Sandy would somehow get Pitch to be good and he would become the guardian of courage. (Then they would get together) But I don't so yeah...

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><p>"Are you sure dears? You could just stay with us, you are a bit young to be on your own," Lilliana said frowning at the winter kits.<p>

"No it's ok, we don't want to be a burden. Plus it'll be fun trying to live on our own! Right Amaya?" The now seven-year-old male kit chirped, grinning wildly. His sister gave an equally wide grin and nodded.

The spring doe shook her head, chuckling at her adopted kits. "Well if you're so sure Esper... If you need anything come straight over got it? Also you are required to come over at least three times a day for meals," She ordered, looking between the two young kits.

Amaya smirked and nodded, "don't worry, I'll keep Esper in line!" "Hey what do you mean by that Amaya!" The male yelled indignantly. The larger sibling smirked "exactly what I said Espy, I'll keep you in line."

Esper growled and tackled his sister, knocking them into the forest ground. The young pooka wrestled, shouting at each other. Lilliana sighed at the two's antics. "Kits will be kits," a male voice said, sounding from right behind the doe.

"I suppose," Lilliana said, turning and giving her mate a quick kiss, her hand going to rest lightly on her slightly raised stomach.

"Eww!" Amaya yelled from a top her brother, her paws flying up to cover her eyes.

Esper smirked at his sister's distraction and bucked her off, sending the larger kit tumbling into the dirt. The male stood up and shook, trying to get the dirt out of his snowy white coat.

"Hey no fair!" Amaya yelled, moving to try and reengage her brother.

"Alright enough," Hawthorne said, still cuddling his pregnant mate.

The young kits froze and turned to face the ginger male. A chorus of 'sorry' came from the twins. The buck smirked "now how about you two go check out your new burrow?"

Esper and Amaya grinned and ran towards a hole at the base of a large tree behind them.

Lilliana frowned "are you sure that they'll be ok on their own? They're still such young kits..."

Her mate cut her off, pressing a long kiss to her lips. "Calm down love, they're not on their own, we're still taking care of them."

The doe frowned but nodded, gazing after the winter siblings.

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><p>"Whoa this is so cool!" Amaya exclaimed, looking around their new abode. The entrance lead down into a tunnel that widened into a sitting room. A wooden door separating the room from the open tunnel.<p>

The sitting room was about twenty feet long and fifteen feet wide. In the middle of the room there was a carved circular table complete with four wooden chairs surrounding it. The walls were adorned with large dark wood bookshelves, there were ten placed evenly around the room, books resting on some of the shelves. Two plush chairs sat in opposite corners, turned to face each other. Glowing plants were planted around the room to provide light to every corner of the room.

Directly across from the entrance was another door that presumably lead to the rest of the burrow. The siblings glanced at each other and raced for the door. Esper reached the entrance first and wrenched it open, revealing a long illuminated hallway.

There were four doors situated in the hallway, two on their left, and two on their right. Amaya rushed to the first door, pulling it open and peering inside. Inside was a good-sized kitchen that looked to be stocked with all kinds of fruits and vegetables. Amaya blinked and leapt at the bowl of fruit on the table.

She snatched a large white berry and sat down, scarfing down the fruit. Esper watched in amusement as his sister tore apart the fruit, its juices getting all over her dark gray fur. "I have never see someone eat that fast before," the male said, staring at her in slight horror.

His sister growled as she finished the fruit, "shut up Esper!"

The white kit rolled his eyes, "c'mon I want to explore the rest of the burrow!"

Amaya nodded and hopped down from the table. Esper grinned and ran to the next door. He opened the door and was greeted with the sight of an ordinary bathroom. Amaya popped up behind him and peered over his shoulder, "Well that's handy now come on!" She grabbed his paw and dragged him to the last two doors.

The final doors were right across from each other, indicating a similar purpose. The siblings each opened a door and looked inside. Amaya saw an empty room with a divot in the floor, a nest room for when they were older. Esper saw a slightly larger room with a slightly larger nest. The nest was lined with pillows and blankets and was large enough for the twins to sleep together.

Esper grinned and belly flopped into the nest laughing as he landed. Amaya turned to look at him and smirked at him. The female crouched down and pounced, jumping straight at Esper. The kit's eyes widened and he rolled out of the way, trying to avoid his sister. Amaya thumped into the nest, landing sprawled in the nest. Esper snickered, "very graceful, ten out of ten!" The elder growled and jumped at her brother again.

Amaya landed on top of him, her greater weight bowling him over. The white kit honked in surprise and fell over, Amaya landing on top of him. The smaller kit wiggled around, trying to get out of the elders hold. Amaya laughed, "Don't bother little brother, I'm way bigger than you."

Esper pouted, "Humph... Great, now get off of me Amaya!"

The female hummed in thought, "How about... No."

A chuckle cut Esper off before he could retort. The duo looked up and saw Lilliana standing in the doorway.

The doe smiled at the two, "You two are absolutely adorable! I hope this litter is like you two." The kits ears went back in embarrassment and Amaya rolled of Esper.

"WE ARE NOT ADORABLE!" They shouted in unison.

Lilliana smirked and rolled her eyes, "no of course you aren't."

The kits scowled at their adoptive mother but didn't say anything.

Hawthorne came up behind his mate, "she's right you know, you are adorable."

"We are not Da!" Amaya growled, ears flicking in indignation.

The mated pair laughed and Esper tried to stifle a snort. Lilliana giggled, "You're going to be a little buck I can already tell."

The younger female beamed, "Course I am!"

Esper snickered, "If you turn out to be a doe I am going to laugh my butt off."

The elder kit swatted at him, "Shut up Esper! No one asked you!"

"Amaya! Language please!" Lilliana reprimanded, frowning disapprovingly at her adopted kit.

The older kit ducked her head, "Sorry Dam."

The doe shook her head, a small smile on her lips, "You two are such trouble makers. I don't know what we're going to do with you."

Esper snickered, "You're stuck with us."

Hawthorne snorted, "Cheeky little brat."

Lilliana swatted her buck's arm, "Aon't call the kits brats Hawthorne."

The buck rolled his eyes and leaned over, planting a kiss on her cheek. "Why don't you kits go and play, your Dam and I need to 'discuss' some things," Hawthorne said.

The siblings nodded and scampered past the older couple.

The buck chuckled and kissed Lilliana's neck, wrapping his arms around her stomach. The doe shivered and leaned back into her mate. Hawthorne smirked and nipped at her mating mark. Lilliana yelped and pulled away. She turned and glared at her mate, "Gods Hawthorne, not in the kit's nest!"

Hawthorne eyed her up and down, "Then let's go back to our nest." The pregnant female rolled her eyes, "You are an absolute pervert."

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><p>"Race you to the Lake," Esper challenged, turning to his sister. Amaya smirked, "alright, let's go on three. One, two, THREE!" The kits shot off, racing at top speed towards the Lake.<p>

The Lake was, like the name suggested, a rather large lake hidden a couple minutes away from the main body of the colony. Rose Bunnymund had discovered it one day while she was out walking. It was the secret hide out for the kits of the colony, the adults not having found it yet.

The twin screeched to a halt at the edge of the Lake. They squeezed through the thick brambles hiding the Lake and popped out on the shore.

The Lake had two very different shores, a sandy beach and a rocky bank, the former being where the kits had popped out. The two banks were separated by an outcropping that hung about ten feet over the shore.

"I win!" Amaya yelled, hopping on top of a large rock.

"No you didn't I got through the brambles first," Esper pointed out.

Amaya shook her head, "But I got to the bramble line first. Therefore I won."

Esper huffed, "I said race to the Lake, not the outskirts."

The female kit growled back, "Not important, I got here first."

"Actually unless he's lying, Esper won," a male voice called. The siblings turned to face the voice.

"Hey Aster," they said, grinning at their friends. E. Aster Bunnymund hopped towards them, landing on a rock in front of Esper.

"Hey," the seven-year-old buck said, "what's up with you two? Haven't seen you in a couple days."

Esper blinked, "huh, I guess it has been a little bit. We've been busy, Dam got pregnant, and we've been helping kit proof the burrow."

"Oh congratulations," Aster said, "do you know how many yet?"

Amaya shook her head, "nope, Dam says that she won't be able to tell until they're a month old. That's in a week apparently."

"Cool, looking forward to being older siblings then?" The older kit asked.

Esper made a face, "a bunch of whiny kits that just make a big mess of things? Not really."

Aster snorted, "Sounds kinda like you, Esper."

Amaya cackled, "Finally! Someone agrees with me!"

"Mean! Why are you agreeing with her Aster?" Esper said, betrayal clear on his face.

The blue gray kit grinned, "Just telling the truth."

Esper growled and tackled the larger kit. The two males wrestled for a minute, their bodies bumping into all the rocks in the shore.

Eventually Aster backed off, laughing slightly, "Geesh you made your point, Esp!"

Esper smirked and shook, dislodging the dirt that clung to his coat.

Amaya yelped as wet and slimy soil hit her.

She held her paws up, trying to shield herself. "Quit it Esper!" she yelled, backing away.

The younger male kit laughed, "Now why would I do that? It's so much fun to mess with you!"

Amaya snarled, "Why you!" She sprang at her brother. Esper laughed and ran for the water, dodging Amaya's attempts to catch him.

Aster shook his head and looked after his friends, watching as Amaya tried, and subsequently failed to catch her brother, Esper slipping out of her grasp like a slippery fish.

"Dang it Aster help me catch this brat!" Amaya yelled, growling as Esper slipped out of her arms once again.

The eldest kit rolled his eyes and ran after the other kits.

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><p>A.N. Alright it's done! I told y'all that this would be done soon! Well I told you if you read Guardian Angels. I kinda feel like the first part of the chapter is below my usual standard though. In a completely unrelated note of that I have some news to share. My deadline has been pushed back from every two random updates every Wednesday to every Friday. The reason for this is simple. I do a majority of my writing at school. I'd get the week before done and I'd think 'ok I've got time, don't need to start the next chappie yet. And the next thing I'd know and it would be Monday and two thousand word chapters would be due in two days. This will hopefully be beneficial to both of us as I would be more organized and you guys will get chapters that are actually on time. So yeah see you guys in a week!<p>

TheAmericanPrussian


	4. Chapter 3

"Dam, Da wake up!" Amaya shouted, hopping into the nest. Lilliana shot up, "Amaya what's wrong? Where's the fire? Amaya stared at her oddly, "wha? There's no fire Dam, it's our birthday!"

The doe groaned and flopped back into her nest, "happy birthday kits." Hawthorne chuckled, sitting up and stretching, "huh, you're seven years old aren't you? I swear it seems like just yesterday we got you two."

"Didn't feel like yesterday for us," Esper said dryly. The buck rolled his eyes and stood up, "c'mon kits, lets go check on the little ones and let your Dam rest." The twins nodded and dashed into the hallway. They opened the door to the nursery and stepped inside.

A small wooden cradle sat against the back wall. The older littermates walked forward and peered into the small cradle. Inside the cradle were three tiny kits, barely two months old.

The litter consisted of two female kits and one male kit. The oldest and only male kit was a cream and light brown kit named Willow. The middle kit was the largest, a dark chocolate brown female that Lilliana had named Rosalie. Finally there was little Snowdrop, the youngest of the litter. The female was white with hints of light gray, looking very similar to her oldest brother.

Esper reached down and picked up Snowdrop, careful not to jostle the little kit. Just as carefully as her brother Amaya picked up Willow and settled him in her arms. Hawthorne came up behind them and lifted Rose out of the cradle. "Why don't we give these little ones to Lily and I'll go make breakfast alright?" Hawthorne suggested, turning to the elder kits.

They nodded and the family walked back to the nest.

They entered the nest room and handed the younger litter to their mother. Lillian yawned and accepted the kits from the others, kissing Hawthorne as he handed her Rosalie. The ginger buck kissed her back and then straightened back up. He herded the elder kits out of the nest and towards the kitchen.

Esper ran past his sister and skidded to a halt in front of the kitchen door. Amaya charge after her brother, not bothering to stop herself. The littermates toppled over, Esper landing on top of Amaya. Hawthorne laughed and walked past the wrestling siblings. The ginger opened the pantry and pulled out many types of fruit, setting out to make a fruit salad. Amaya pushed her brother off of her and stood up, shaking her fur.

She blinked and stared strangely at her brother. Esper stared back at her warily. The female hopped forward and sniffed her brother, "Esp why do you smell weird?" She asked. The younger blinked, "what do you mean?" "Your scent, it's different. Normally you smell kinda like snow and trees but now it smells... Sweeter somehow," she explained.

Hawthorne put doe the bowl he was holding, "Esper come here for a minute." The male kit frowned and hopped over to his adoptive father. Hawthorne leaned over and picked him up. Esper struggled to get out of the adult's hold, "hey Da let go of me!"

Hawthorne ignored him, sniffing at Esper's neck. He blinked and set the kit down, "huh that's kinda surprising," the buck said. "What's surprising?" Lilliana asked, coming into the kitchen, the newborn kits in hand.

Hawthorne looked up at his mate, "Esper's a doe." Lilliana blinked but nodded, "huh, I wasn't expecting that. I thought that they would both turn out to be bucks." Amaya cocked her head to the side, "so Esp is gonna have kits one day? Eww..." Esper snorted, "Good to know I have your support sis."

The adults laughed. "If Esper's scent came in do you think Amaya's did?" Hawthorne asked, turning to his mate. Lilliana shrugged, "one way to find out," she set the younger litter on the table, "Amaya come here." The younger female hopped towards her mother. Lily crouched down and pulled her daughter into a hug, sniffing at her neck. A moment later the doe pulled back, "I called it! You're a back."

Amaya cheered, "awesome!" The other members of the family rolled their eyes. "I'm going to guess that you'll want to tell Aster. Hurry up and eat then you can go tell him," Lilliana instructed. The kits nodded and jumped up onto two of the chairs. Hawthorne chuckled and set bills of fruit salad in front of them.

The kits scarfed down the fruit. "See you later Da, Dam," the twins said, scrambling for the door. "Be safe!" Lilliana called after them. They dashed out of the burrow and barreled out into the clearing. Halfway to the tree line the siblings crashed to a halt, knocking over something that had been standing in the clearing.

The 'thing' yelped as they barreled over it. When the kits finally stopped tumbling they stood up and looked over at the thing that they had run into. Aster lay sprawled on the ground, glaring at the winter siblings. The spring kit stood up and shook himself.

"What was that for?" The eight year old grouched. Esper chuckled nervously, "sorry Aster! So what's up?" Aster shrugged, "I cane to see you two. Have you figured out your Natures yet?" "Yep! I'm a buck and Esper's a doe," Amaya chirped. The older buck blinked, "that... Doesn't really surprise me," he said. The female kit nodded, "Dam wad kind of surprised that Esp was a doe but otherwise we were expecting it." "He is kind of small, it isn't that surprising," Aster pointed out.

Esper growled, "What is that supposed to mean!" The oldest kit whistled innocently, "nothing, nothing." The white kit scowled, "just because I'm a doe doesn't mean I can't beat you as stuff As!" The buck smirked, "alright then, race me to the top of... This two trees." Aster pointed to two large trees on the edge of the clearing. Esper grinned, "You're on! Amaya will you judge who wins?" His sister smirked and nodded, "sure! Kick his butt bro!" Esper smirked and the two males ran to the base of the trees.

"Alright! Three, two, one, GO!" Amaya shouted. The two racing friends scrambled up the trees. Esper weaves through the branches, scrambling up the tree with a practiced ease. Aster slipped up the tree just as quickly, his greater height allowing him to grab higher branches. The kits scrambled to the top of their respective tree, both racing to beat the other.

"I win!" Esper crowed. Aster snorted and shook his head, "naw I got up first right Amaya?" the lone female considered it for a moment, "Esp got to the top first. He won by like a second." The youngest kit smirked, "told you! I'm still awesome!" Aster rolled his eyes, "fine, fine, you won."

Esper cheered and began to climb down the tree. Aster shifted around, looking around at the branches. Esper reached the bottom of his tree and looked up puzzled. "Hey Aster what's wrong? Why are you still up there?" He called. "Uh I can't see where I came up," he yelled back.

The twins shared a nervous glance, "just grab the trunk and kinda shimmy down to the next branch," Amaya suggested. The blue gray kit nodded and grabbed the trunk. He shifted down and lowered himself to the next branch. The young buck turned to the siblings grinning, "hey I did it! Thanks AmayaAAAHHH!" Aster screamed, slipping off of the tree branch.

"ASTER!" Esper and Amaya yelled, watching in horror as their friend plummeted from forty feet in the air. The blue gray kit screamed and flailed, trying to grab a branch as they whipped past him. Aster hit a branch and his momentum halted. He gasped and slipped off the branch, falling the last ten feet to the ground, landing with a sickening 'SNAP!'

"Amaya go get Da and Dam!" Esper yelled, racing over to his fallen friend. Amaya turned and raced back to the burrow, absolutely terrified. Esper skidded to a stop in front of Aster. "As hold on! Amaya is going to get our parents, you'll be ok!" Esper said, placing a paw on Aster's shoulder. The older kit nodded and clenched his teeth, trying not to cry out in front of his friend.

"Esper! What happened?" Hawthorne yelled, racing out of their burrow. The white kit whirled around to face him, "Aster fell out of a tree! There was this horrible snap sound when he landed.

Lilliana came out of the burrow, "I'll go get Cala," she volunteered, turning and racing toward her friend's burrow. Hawthorne nodded and turned back to the kits, "alright Aster where does it hurt most?" "Leg," the gray kit hissed, his face scrunched up in pain. The ginger buck nodded and ghosted his paw over the younger's leg. Hawthorne frowned, "your leg is broken. We're going to have to wait for your Dam to get here to get it fixed."

Esper looked up at his father, "he's going to be ok right? Please tell me he's going to be alright," he begged. Hawthorne nodded, "he'll be fine Esp, just help me hold him still." The doe nodded and grasped Aster shoulder, pushing it down. "ASTER!" Cala shouted, bursting into the clearing, Kale and Lilliana right behind her.

The spring doe ran up to her fallen kit, "Esper go home, kits shouldn't see this," she said, gently pushing Esper away from his friend. The kit shook his head, "no I need to stay with him!" "Esper! Go home now!" Lilliana said, "I know that you want to stay with him but you won't help by staying here and worrying. We'll come get you and Amaya when it's done."

Esper hesitated before nodding and turning and running toward their burrow. He ran down the tunnel and into the family's burrow. "Amaya where are you?" he yelled, skidding to a stop in the hallway.

"You just ran past me you idiot," Amaya said, coming up behind him. Esper turned around and rubbing his head sheepishly, "heh oops. Aster broke his leg, Mrs. Cala is fixing him up." His sentence was punctuated by a sharp shriek, "or maybe beating a puppy." Amaya snorted, "I'm not sure now is time for your bad jokes little brother." "There's always a time for jokes, I don't know what you're talking about," Esper said, grinning madly.

"Are you sure you're related to me?" Amaya groaned. Esper snickered, "nope! Hey were are the little ones?" The older kit blinked, "they're in their crib, Dam put them to sleep." Esper nodded and fell silent. The silence went on for several minutes, neither kit knew why to say.

Slowly Esper reached for Amaya, "Esper don't," Amaya warned stepping away from her brother. The white doe grinned wickedly and hopped forward. "Poke," he whispered, poking his sister's arm. "ESPER!" Amaya yelled, jumping on her brother. The kits tussled, trying and failing to pin the other down.

"Amaya! Esper!" Lilliana called, coming into the burrow. The littermates immediately stopped, Amaya getting off Esper. "We're her Dam!" Esper yelled, getting up from the floor. The kit's Dam came into the hallway, Aster's fine, Cala healed up his leg but he'll need to rest for a couple days so don't drag him out to do stupid things alright?" they nodded, "good now go play but don't bug Aster, he's still asleep." "Alright, bye Dam," the kits said, dashing past her and out of the burrow.


	5. Chapter 4

Hi guys, I'm back! I'm sorry about not updating in forever; I lost touch with writing and then started a new story. For those of you reading on , it's called Blind Faith by FrozenDoe. (Shameless self insert) Anyway, we're almost past the boring part! A few more chapters of filler, and then we get to the fun part! So enjoy!

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><p>Esper sighed, bored out of his mind. "Would you quit sighing already!" Amaya snapped, "trying to annoy me to death will not make Aster wake up faster!" Esper rolled his eyes, "sorry, sorry, I'm just worried."<p>

Amaya rolled her eyes, "I'm not. Geez Esp, this is Aster were taking about. He'll bounce right back from this. If it was you then I would be worried. You'd probably just kneel over dead." "Harsh," Esper muttered, messing with the leaf litter beneath their feet. Amaya rolled her eyes, "you know this isn't your fault right?" Esper shrugged his shoulders, eyes downcast. Amaya groaned, "Ugh you do. Esp just because you challenged him to race didn't mean you got him hurt. He's the one who fell off the dumb branch."

Esper sighed, "I know, it's just he wouldn't have been up the tree if I hadn't raced him." "You do realize this was probably inevitable right?" She asked. Esper looked up at her, confused, "what do you mean?" He said. She rolled her eyes, "with the amount of time we spend in trees one of us was eventually going to fall out and hurt ourselves. Mrs. Cala will probably just fix him up, give us all a huge lecture and send us on our way." "Maybe," Esper admitted, "but I'm still worried about him Amaya, none of us have ever gotten seriously hurt before." "Well there's a first time for everything," Amaya replied dryly.

Esper groaned and threw a handful of leaves at her, "stop making sense!" Amaya smirked, "no can do little brother." Esper growled, "I'm not you're little brother! I could have been born first you know." Amaya shrugged, "maybe, but I'm still bigger." Esper groaned but didn't say anything. "What do you want to do in the mean time?" He asked. Amaya thought for a moment, "do you want to got to the market? Some of the other kits might be there."  
>Esper nodded, "alright, race you there!"<p>

Amaya grinned; shifting onto all fours and the two kits ran off. They darted through the forest, running faster and faster, trying to beat the other to their destination. Esper panted softly as he flew over the forest floor. Amaya shot a smirk at her brother, "tired?" She yelled. "You wish!" Esper shot back, speeding up even more, pulling ahead of his sister. Amaya grit her teeth and put even more effort into her stride, just pulling ahead as the two broke through the tree line. The twins stumbled to a stop. "I win!" Amaya crowed, flopping onto her back.

"Were you racing?" A voice asked. The two looked up. An older male kit stood in front of them, looking down at them curiously. Amaya nodded, "Yep! And I won!" Esper stuck his tongue out at her, "this time. I'll beat you next time." His sister snorted, "Sure, what ever helps you sleep at night."

The other kit chuckled, "are you two litter mates? You smell alike." Esper nodded, "yep. Are you new here? I'm pretty sure we've met all the kits who live around here." He smiled sheepishly, "yeah, my family just moved here a few days ago. My Dam dragged me here so she could pick up some things to start a garden. My name's Aspen Rosewood by the way." Amaya grinned, "nice to meet ya Aspen! I'm Amaya Frosti, and this is brother Esper."

Aspen looked over the siblings, a thought seemingly on the tip of his tongue. "What's wrong?" Esper asked. "I was just thinking, you have completely white fur, are you two Winters? I thought that there were only Springs here." They nodded, "yeah. We're the only non-Spring pooka here," Esper explained. Aspen frowned, "what about your parents?" "We're adopted," Amaya said curtly. Aspen held up his paws, "sorry, that was a bit too personal."

"So where are you from Aspen?" Esper asked, trying to break the awkward tension. "I'm from the Home World," Aspen said. The siblings looked at each other, "the Home World? That takes months of flying to get here," Amaya said in awe, "what's it like?" "It's covered in buildings, there's trees and stuff but they're only in parks and stuff. It's nice I guess, but I like this planet better, it's much more welcoming," Aspen explained.

"I kinda wonder what that would be like, really the only buildings here are the school, the court house, and the shuttle bay," Esper said. "Did you ever meet any of the monarchs?"  
>Aspen shook his head and laughed, "I wish! I've seen the Summer and Spring pair, and I saw the Autumn King once, but I've never seen the Winter pair." Esper frowned, "don't the Monarchs hold public meetings? Or have you never been to one?"<p>

The Spring kit shrugged, "no one's seen the Winter King or Queen in years. There are a bunch of rumors that they died, or that they had a fall out with the other Monarchs and left for another planet." Esper raised an eyebrow, "wouldn't the public have been informed that a Monarch pair died? How would they have died anyway? Didn't King Rue come into her inheritance only like fifteen years ago? Both she and Queen Evergreen were so young."

"That's the thing," Aspen said, "there was this huge public announcement seven years ago that Queen Evergreen was pregnant with their first litter right before they disappeared. They haven't been shown publicly since then, so people have been saying that the entire litter was still born and Queen Evergreen killed himself because of it."

The littermate's eyes widened. "But wouldn't that mean that the Line of Winter is dead? Winter doesn't have several Heirs lined up like Spring and Summer do," Amaya pointed out. Aspen shrugged, "they've also been saying that King Rue is just really protective and took them away from the public until the kits were old enough to be presented. Personally I think that that's more realistic." "Anything's better than the Line of Winter being dead," Esper muttered. Aspen and Amaya nodded.

"On a less depressing and or disturbing note, how old are you?" Amaya asked. "I turned eight a few months ago, what about you," he replied. "We turned eight yesterday," they said. "Oh, do you know what natures you are then?" Aspen asked, "I'm a buck." "I'm a doe, Amaya's a buck," Esper chirped. Aspen smiled, "cool! Hey at some point could you show me around the forest? I've been all over the settlement, but I haven't explored the forest."

The twins grinned, "sure! That would tons of fun!" Esper said, smiling widely. "Awesome, thanks!" Aspen chirped.

"ASPEN! WHERE ARE YOU?" A male's voice yelled. Aspen turned around, "oh, that's my Dam. I need to go, see you later!" "Bye," "see ya," the twins said.

The siblings watched the other kit run off, disappearing into the market place crowd. "Well he sure is pleasant," Amaya commented. Esper nodded, "yep he seemed really nice. Hey, let's go see who's here." Amaya nodded and they hopped over to the crowd, slipping through the adults in search of someone their age. They ducked through the stalls, careful not to get stepped on.

"Esper, Amaya? What are you doing here?" Rose Bunnymund asked. The littermates turned to the older doe. "Hey Rose!" They said, smiling widely. Out of all of Aster's siblings Rose was by far their favorite. The stormy grey doe was fifteen years old but always made time for her younger siblings. She also had a habit of baking delicious things and giving them out to people. "We were looking for something to do while we waited for Aster to wake up," Esper explained.

Rose blinked, "oh did no one tell you? He's awake." The siblings looked at each other, "can we go see him?" They asked in sync. Rose laughed, "You can go see if he's up for visitors, I left as he was just waking up." They grinned, "Thanks Rose!" Amaya shouted as they turned and ran back towards the burrows.

The twins ran in silence, rushing back to Aster's home as fast as possible. Esper grinned in anticipation, he knew Aster would be upset for a little bit, but as soon as they found some interesting plant or something he would cheer up. He snorted, jumping over a large rock, Aster was a bit of a brooder on the best of days, but he was nice as long as you didn't annoy him too much.

"ESPER, WATCH WHERE YOU'RE GOING!" Amaya yelled, panicked. "Huh?" He looked up to find a tree inches in front of his muzzle. Esper yelped and ducked his head, turning to the side before crashing into the tree. He bounced off the tree, landing harshly on his side. Amaya skidded to a halt, "ESP!" He gasped, the air having been knocked out of him. "I'm ok," Esper wheezed, coughing slightly.

He sat up on his haunches and shook out the leaf litter from his coat. "Graceful, ten out of ten," Amaya said as he stood up. Esper stuck out his tongue, "quiet you."

"Is there a reason that you two are crashing full speed into trees?" Kale asked, emerging from the trees. Amaya snickered," Esp wasn't looking where he was looking and ran into a tree." "Yes, it would seem that trees have something against you three," the adult Buck commented drily.

Amaya pouted, "aww, I haven't been hurt by a tree yet!" "Yet," Esper pointed out. "Quiet you." "Yes ma'am." Kale rolled his eyes, "let's not tempt the fates yes? Anyway, are you two here to see Aster?" The twins nodded. "Is he up for visitors?" Amaya asked. Kale nodded, "yes, come with me."

Aster's father turned and walked back towards his burrow. The littermates grinned at each other and scurried after him, eager to see their friend. They followed Kale down a tunnel and walked into the Bunnymund's sitting room. "His room is this way," Kale said, gesturing towards a hallway, "third door on the left." "Thanks Mr. Kale!" They said, going towards the door.

Amaya reached the door first and pulled it open, sticking her head inside, "hey Aster, you awake?" "Am now," the grey kit grumbled, sitting up. Amaya grinned, opening the door and stepping inside, Esper coming in after her.

"Are you alright?" Esper asked worriedly. "No I just broke my leg, of course I'm not OK," Aster snapped. Esper flinched, "sorry," he mumbled. Amaya frowned, "so what did your dam say about your leg, is it going to be alright?" Aster scowled, "no, it actually won't. Apparently the bone or something was so damaged that my Dam couldn't heal it completely. I can't walk without a really bad limp," he spat.

The sibling's eyes widened, "Mrs. Cala can't do anything about it?" Esper asked softly. "Isn't that what I just said?" Aster growled. "Ok hold on. Aster quit being so mean to Esper, I'm sure this is just one of those injuries that look really bad now, but a little down the road clear up completely," Amaya said, "push comes to shove, when you get older you could go to one of the more developed planets and get a healer to fix it."

Aster glared at her before huffing and turning around, facing away from the door. Esper bit his lip in guilt. Amaya frowned at him and put a paw reassuringly on his shoulder. "Why are you here anyway?" Aster muttered. "We were worried about you," Esper murmured.

Aster turned around and glared full force at the smaller Winter kit. "If you were worried about me, you wouldn't have sent me up that tree," he growled. Esper whimpered and flinched back. "Hey hold on! This isn't Esper's fault! He didn't do anything wrong! How was he supposed to know that that branch would snap?" Amaya exclaimed.

Aster turned to glare at her, "if he hadn't wanted to race I wouldn't be in this mess," he hissed. Amaya growled, stepping forward, "you were the one who agreed to the race! You picked the tree! And you were the one who got stuck!" She yelled. "And who was too stupid to accept that he was the weaker nature!" Aster yelled back.

Both the Winter kits froze at that. "What did you say," Esper hissed, clenching his paws. "I said that you were too stupid and full of yourself to admit that you are a doe, the weaker nature!" Aster growled. "As I remember it, I beat you up that tree," Esper said. Aster scoffed, "luck of the draw, you're just some stupid doe. Quit acting like a buck and start acting like a proper doe."

The littermates snarled, "proper doe? You weren't saying that yesterday!" Esper spat, "you're so bitter and full of yourself Aster Bunnymund! We came here to help cheer you up! Who knew you were such a jerk! I hope you're stuck with that for the rest of your life you stupid, mean, horrible, jerkish, buck!" Esper turned and ran out of the room.

"Esper!" Amaya yelled, glaring once at Aster. "Why would you say that!" She hissed, stalking up to him. Aster scoffed, "it's true." She growled, "Esper's right, you are a bitter jerk. I hope that yelling at us was worth it to you, because you just lost your only friends."

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><p>Oh Aster... Well I hope that turned out all right *can't write verbal fights to save her life*. Aster's acting like a complete jerk, I know, but it is necessary, I promise! And by necessary I mean it adds in more drama. Any who see ya later!<p>

TheAmericanPrussian out!


	6. Chapter 5

"Big Brother! Big Sister! Wait for me!" A four year old Snowdrop yelled, charging out of her burrow.

Twelve year old Esper turned around. "Hey Snowdrop, what's up?" He asked. The little kit flung herself into her adoptive brother's arms. "Where are you going?" She asked, peering up innocently at Esper.

Amaya raised an eyebrow, "where we go every day Snowdrop, school." Snowdrop beamed, "I wanna go with big brother and big sister!" She chirped.

Esper laughed, "Sorry squirt, you're a too little young to go to school. "Am not!" Snowdrop complained, pouted at her siblings. "Snow, you're four years old. You can't go to school until you're eight years old," Amaya pointed out.

Snowdrop sniffled, "don't leave big brother!" She yelled, clutching Esper tighter. Esper looked down at her, "uh..." "Snowdrop!" Hawthorn yelled, coming out of the family burrow.

"Da!" She yelled, letting go of Esper and running over to her father. Hawthorn looked up at his older kits, "shouldn't you two be headed for the school house?" He asked. The twins nodded, "yeah, but Snowdrop wanted to come and wouldn't let us leave," Amaya said.

Hawthorn looked down at his youngest, "Snowdrop, you know you can't go to school with them, you're not old enough." Snowdrop sniffled, "but I don't want Big Brother and Big Sister to go!" She wailed. The three older pooka glanced at each other.

"Hey, how about this Snowdrop? After school we'll take you and the others exploring. How does that sound?" Esper asked. The four year old considered this for a moment, "ok!" She chirped. "Have a good day Big Brother, Big Sister!" The littermates chuckled, "bye Da!" They said, setting out for the school house.

"Hey Esper, do you think we're going to have a quiz today in Language Arts? I forgot to study grammar rules last night," Amaya asked. Esper shook his head, "I don't think we would, we just had one four days ago, I don't think they'd be that cruel." Amaya nodded thoughtfully, "I suppose you're right, it would seem a little weird to have two quizzes so close together." The two kits traveled in silence, peacefully watching the familiar surroundings as they walked to school.

"Hey! Esper, Amaya! Over here!" Aspen yelled, waving from the clearing in front of the school building. The twins grinned and waved back. They sped up until they reached their friend, "hey Aspen," they greeted.

Aspen grinned, "What's up?" They shrugged, "nothing much, Snowdrop tried to follow us again," Amaya said.

Aspen laughed, "She won't want to follow you once she's actually goes to school." Esper shook his head, "she'll just try to follow us to our class." Aspen chuckled, "dang, she must really like you." Amaya nodded, "she follows Esper around everywhere, and it's kinda cute."

Esper groaned, "maybe for you, but I have to look behind me everywhere I go to make sure she didn't follow me!" His companions laughed, "Sucks for you!" Amaya said. Esper huffed, "gee, thanks sister, I feel loved." Amaya smirked, "no problem lil bro!" "I'M NOT THAT LITTLE!" Esper yelled.

Amaya laughed, "Your short bro, no use denying it! The only big thing about you is your ears!" Esper growled and launched himself at his laughing sibling.

Amaya grinned and darted to the side. Esper landed, spun on his heel and grabbed her arm, pulling her down. Amaya yelped in surprise, falling forward. At the last second, she regained her balance and rammed into Esper, knocking them into the ground.

Esper hissed and pushed back, the hiss morphing into a growl as she refused to budge. Amaya laughed, "give up brother, we're not little kits anymore Esp, you can't move me anymore."

He huffed, "fine, get off of me, you're heavy." She smirked and pulled him up. Esper turned to Aspen, "thanks for the help," he said sarcastically.

Aspen held his paws up on surrender, "you jumped at her, I'm just a neutral party." "Neutral party my ass," Esper grumbled. Aspen chuckled, rolling his eyes.

"Hey Esp, you've got a bit of leaf dust on your neck," he pointed out. Esper blinked, "where?" He asked, feeling at his neck. Aspen shook his head and stepped right in front of Esper, so close their chests were nearly touching, "right here," he said, raising a paw and gently brushing the dust away. Esper flushed and pulled back, his ears pinning to the back of his head.

Amaya cackled, "someone's got a crush~!" She sang. "Shut up Amaya," Esper hissed, turning to glare at her. She smirked, "oh, did I strike a nerve?" She teased. "Hey Amaya, quit teasing Esper," Aspen said.

She grinned, "Is Esper's little crush returned?" The two males flushed, "shut up Amaya!" They yelled. She smirked, "ESPER AND ASPEN SITTIN IN A TREE MRRPPHB!" She yelled, her brother tackling her to the ground. "SHUT UP!" He yelled, covering her muzzle with a paw.

At this point, all the other kits who had gathered in the clearing were staring at the two siblings. Amaya pushed her brother off her and brushed the accumulated dirt off her pelt. Luckily for them, the bell rang, calling the kits for class. The three companions started for the building, an awkward silence stretching over the two males of the group.

They pushed through the school doors, walking through the crowd to their classroom. A few of their other friends waved to the three as they took their seats. Esper set his head down on his arms, looking around the room to avoid looking Aspen in the eyes. Most of the class was there already, kits chatting loudly with their friends.

"Alright everybody, calm down and sit down please," their teacher said, walking through the door. The class scrambled back to their seats. Mrs. Blanchefleur was not someone you wanted to cross, the female buck had a history of making kits run laps if they misbehaved.

As he watched Mrs. Blanchefleur walk by, Esper saw a familiar gray pelt walk by the open door. A flash of guilt ran through him as he saw Aster limp past the classroom, headed for the thirteen year olds class. He frowned, neither he nor Amaya had talked to him since the fight when they were eight. Amaya whacked his arm, shooting him an inquisitive look. Esper shook his head and turned to face the front.

"Alright everyone, who can tell me what we were doing yesterday during ruins?" Mrs. Blanchefleur asked. A few kits raised their hands. "Yes Aspen." "Translating ancient ruin sequences to modern characters and deciphering their meaning in spells," he answered.

The teacher nodded, "good. Now can anyone tell me what this ruin sequence means?" She asked, drawing four characters on the chalk board. Esper frowned at it. The first character looked like an arrowhead inside a triangle. The second was the same triangle inside a circle, followed by a spiral with an x at the center. The final character was simply two squares rotated to form a star shape.

Esper raised his paw hesitantly. "Esper, do you think you've got it?" Mrs. Blanchefleur asked, pointing at him with the chalk. "Uh, it looks like a spell to send heated winds past wards," he said. She nodded, "close, but not quite. This spell in particular is translated as 'heat penetrate', the cast is 'etah taeeprent.' It doesn't have much use as an offensive spell, but it is very helpful if you need to warm something up. Everyone get out your notebooks and write that down."

The sound of paper shuffling filled the room as the kits grabbed notebooks and styluses out of the supply bags hanging on their seats. "Now, I know a lot of you are excited to access your magic, and one or two of you have, but you need to be patient. This year is just theory, next year in general practical applications, and the year after is specializations. If anyone in here has accessed their core, do not attempt to use magic yet. You have not been taught how to wield it, and may or may not accidentally blow yourselves up."

The class stared at her, one or two kits glancing around the room nervously. Probably the ones that had used magic outside school, Esper thought. Amaya poked him, "yeah Esper, don't use magic outside of school," she whispered teasingly. Esper stuck out his tongue, "shut up, you know I haven't accessed my core yet."

"You haven't?" Aspen asked, seemingly surprised. "You have?" Esper shot back. Aspen coughed, "uh..." Esper's mouth dropped open, "you have?!" The light brown kit coughed nervously, "uh, maybe?" The sibling's mouths fell open. "That's awesome," Esper said, amazed. Aspen lowered his ears in embarrassment, "thanks Esper," he said, smiling softly at his younger friend.

"Esper, Aspen, do you have something you want to share with the class?" Mrs. Blanchefleur asked crossly. "No ma'am," they said. "Please pay attention to the class rather than talking among yourselves, this is very important." The kits nodded sheepishly, turning back to the front. They glanced at each other, grinning. Amaya snorted and rolled her eyes at them.

The rest of the day passed rather quickly for Esper, the only deviation from the normal routine was the pop quiz in math that Mrs. Blanchefleur gave them.

The end of day bell rang loudly, prompting a rush of kits heading for the door. The three friends hung back to avoid getting separated by the rush of kits.

"Hey Esper, Amaya, do you want to go do something?" Aspen asked, turning to the others. Esper shook his head, "I promised Snowdrop I'd take her and her littermates exploring. They're probably driving Da and Dam nuts." Aspen chuckled, "You have three younger siblings right?" Esper nodded, "yep, Snowdrop, Willow and Rosalie." "Thought so," Aspen said, "you mind if I come with?"

Esper shook his head, "not at all. It'd be great to have another pair of eyes watching them." Aspen grinned, "Awesome!" Amaya shook her head, "come on dorks, you can have your love fest later, lets deal with a group of hyperactive kits first." They flushed. "We weren't having a 'love fest' Amaya!" Esper yelled.

"Esper, no screaming indoors," Mrs. Blanchefleur said, not looking up from the papers on her desk. Esper flushed even more, "can we just go?" he asked, embarrassed. Amaya smirked, "sure." They stood and headed for the now much less crowded hallway.

"Hey Aspen? Do you have any siblings besides your littermates?" Esper asked. Aspen glanced at him as he pushed open the school doors. "Yeah. I haven't met a lot of them though. I'm one of litter… six I think?" Some of my older siblings are at random parts of the galaxy with their mates," he said, "why do you ask?" Esper shrugged, "just wanted to know."

Aspen nodded, "do you two have any older siblings?" Both littermates shook their heads. "Nah," Amaya said, "We're the first litter from our Da and Dam, and supposedly we're the only litter from our birth parents as well." Aspen frowned, "supposedly?" "We never met our birth parents," Esper explained, "our Dam died giving birth to us, so we never got a chance to meet them." "Oh. I'm sorry for prying," Aspen said sadly.

Amaya shrugged, "we never met them, and Dam and Da are awesome parents, so it doesn't bug us as much as it would." Aspen nodded, "alright then. But I am curious, how did you get to your parents?" "Uh… a friend of our parents brought us to the Bunnymunds I think it was because he was Mr. Kale's great grandfather, but they had just had a litter so we went to our parents," Esper said.

Aspen turned to stare at them. "What?" They asked. "Are you sure that it was Mr. Kale's great grandfather?" He asked. Amaya frowned, "yeah, why?" Aspen stopped, "Amaya, Esper, Mr. Kale's great grandfather is Heir Rowan Bunnymund of Spring."

The littermates stared at him, then turned to look at each other, "why would our parents know the _heir of Spring_?" Amaya asked, bewildered. Esper shrugged, equally as bewildered, "I have no idea." "Well that's interesting," Aspen said, "I wonder why you were brought here though instead of somewhere closer to the Home World, where the Heir and their families supposedly live?" Esper shrugged, "no clue." Amaya shook her head, "ok, we can ask our parents about this later, but right now we need to deal with hyper little kits that want to go exploring."

The two males nodded. "You're right," Aspen said, "There's a time for everything and all that." "Are we nearly there?" He asked. Amaya looked around at the forest, "yeah, we'll see them in a minute or two."

"BIG BROTHER, BIG SISTER!" A kit's voice yelled. "Or not," Amaya said.

Three little kits charged through the forest, jumping at the litter mates. They caught the kits with practiced ease. Willow and Rosalie had jumped on Amaya while Snowdrop clung to Esper.

"Hi big brother," Snowdrop chirped, "can we go exploring now?" Esper laughed and smiled at his little sister, "sure, are you two ready to go?" He asked, looking at Willow and Rosalie. They nodded, Willow a bit more enthusiastically than his sister.

"Hello Esper, Amaya, Aspen, how was your day at school?" Lilliana asked, walking towards the kits. "Hi Dam," the siblings greeted, smiling at their Dam. She smiled back, "they've been bouncing off the walls since this morning because of you Esper." He rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "sorry Dam."

She chuckled and shook her head, "it's alright, just be careful. And remember, you're responsible for your siblings." Esper chuckled, "yes Dam, we'll be careful." Lilliana nodded, "good. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to go weed the garden." "Bye Dam," The kits, minus Aspen, chorused. She waved and turned back towards the burrow.

Esper looked down at the kit clutching at his middle, "so where do you want to go?" He asked. The younger kits looked at each other, "The Lake!" They yelled. The other kits laughed. "Alright then," Esper said. He paused, "uh, Snowdrop, that means that you're going to have to let go of me." She pouted, "Fine." The smaller white kit grabbed her brother's paw. "Let's go!" Snowdrop chirped.

They chuckled and set out for the lake. "Hey Esper, what are you doing at school?" Rosalie asked from her spot next to Amaya. Esper looked at her, "a bunch of boring stuff that rots your brain," he said. Rosalie stuck her tongue out at him and turned expectantly to Aspen.

The light brown kit chuckled, "well, in ruins we're learning basic spells, small domestic stuff, nothing too flashy. Not that we could use it anyway. In gym we're starting hand to hand combat, we don't get to start with a weapon for another two years though." Rosalie's mouth fell open, "whoa, that's cool! How come you two always complain about school if it sounds so cool?" She asked.

Amaya glared at the oldest kit, "it's not nearly as fun as he makes it seem," She said, "ruins is mostly memorizing stuff, and we have to do math and language arts as well. The art class is kinda fun though." "Art class? What do you do in that class?" Willow asked. "Art," Amaya deadpanned. Aspen laughed, "At the moment we're learning to sketch. I'm not very good at it, but Esper's pretty good."

Esper flushed, "I'm not that good," he muttered. Aspen smiled at him, "aw come on Esper, don't sell yourself short." Esper's blush deepened below his fur.

Amaya rolled her eyes, "will you two get a clue already?" She groaned. They looked at her oddly, "about what?" They asked. She stared at them. "You're kidding right? You two, together! Even this one can see it!" She pointed to Willow, who grinned. "WE DO NOT HAVE CRUSHES ON EACHOTHER!" They yelled.

"Denial is the first stage to acceptance~," Amya sung, walking ahead of them. They looked at each other before quickly looking away. Snowdrop smiled innocently, "I think you and Aspen would be cute as mates Big Brother," she said. Esper's ears were now flat against his head. "We're here!" Snowdrop suddenly yelled, running for the lake.

The other kits ran after her, quickly catching up and running through the bramble line. They broke out all at once, landing on the sandy part of the lake. The loud crash startled someone already at the lake, causing them to honk loudly in surprise. The group stared at a rather startled Aster Bunnymund.

Aster glared at them, "what's the big idea, startling someone like that!" "Sorry," Aspen said, "we didn't realize that someone was here already." Aster huffed, "sure, that's why you decide to crash through the barrier like a pack of starving titan wolves." "Look, he apologized, it was an accident, let it go," Amaya said, glaring at their once best friend.

Esper looked nervously between the two parties. "Hey Aster were you drawing?" He asked, noticing two sketchbooks sitting next to Aster. A red leather bound sketchbook sat next to his leg while a black book sat further away. Aster growled, "I was, until you all came charging through." He grabbed the red book, "I'm leaving, you can have the stupid lake to your selves." Aster turned and limped past them into the barrier.

The group of kits watched him leave. "Well he sure is rude," Aspen muttered. Amaya snorted, "Aster's always been grumpy, there's no helping him." Esper stared sadly at the spot he had left through.

"Hey look, the Grumpy left his book," Snowdrop pointed out. Esper tore his eyes away from the bracken, looking at the book. "I'll get it back to him tomorrow at school," Esper volunteered. The other's nodded.

"C'mon, let's go play big brother!" Snowdrop giggled. He smiled, "alright."


	7. Chapter 6

Hello and welcome back! I'm rather impressed with myself, I wrote this entire chapter in one day. After two months of barely writing this is great progress! Just so you know, I've decided that'll only update every other week or so. I have another story on Archive of Our Own called 'Blind Faith' (I am have mentioned it before) and I've decided to update at least one of them per week. The updates will almost always be posted on Mondays around 3:00 PM EST. So next week don't expect an update. It might be there, but that depends on when I finish Blind Faith's update (which I think I'm like a fourth done with at the moment).

Anyway, enjoy the chapter! I'm excited at the progress this story is making!

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><p>"Hey Esper, what do you think is in there?" Aspen asked, pointing to Aster's sketchbook. Esper shrugged, "no clue, I didn't know that Aster drew to be honest." Amaya nodded, "yeah, when we knew him he always said that art was boring and took too long to do." Aspen nodded, "it has been, what, four years since you were friends? That's a lot of time for someone to change."<p>

"You were friends with the grumpy guy?" Rosalie asked, confused, "he seemed really mean." Esper frowned, "yeah, we were best friends until we were eight. Then Aster had an accident and we got into a fight. We haven't spoken to each other since." Snowdrop huffed, "That's not nice!" She said, "He can't be mean to my big brother and sister!"

The older kits laughed, "Thanks for your support Snow," Amaya said, smiling. "On another note, Aspen what are you going to choose for the arts next year?" She asked. The brown kit considered that for a moment, "I don't know, I think I want to learn to paint, what about you?" Amaya grinned, "I want to learn to write! It's seems like a lot of fun."

The two older males exchanged skeptical glances. "Hey, what's with that?!" Amaya yelled. "Are you sure that you'll have the patience for that?" Esper asked, "Because, no offence, but you're a little hot blooded." "Am not!" She yelled. "You're proving my point," Esper muttered, rolling his eyes. Amaya growled, "Shut up Esper, no one asked you!" "Yes ma'am," he replied, sticking his tongue out at her. "You're a horrible brother," she said, glaring at him. Esper grinned, "Yep~!"

Aspen laughed, "I swear you two are the craziest kits I've ever met." "Naw, thanks Aspen!" Esper chirped. Amaya whacked him over the head. "I don't think that was a compliment Esp," She said. Esper smirked, "maybe not, but I took it as one!" Amaya rolled her eyes, "How am I related to you again?" "I wonder as well," Esper shot back.

Aspen shook his head, "you have a very interesting family," he said, looking at the youngest kits. Snowdrop smiled, "yep! There's a lot of yelling about odd things at meal times. Dammy usually makes Espy stop after a little though." Aspen chuckled, "I bet there is."

Esper gasped, "Snowdrop! I thought you loved me! How dare you say something so mean! I guess I'll just leave then…" Snowdrop's eye's widened, "NO! I love you big brother, you can't leave!" She yelled, jumping up and into Esper's arms. She hugged him tightly as a four year old could, burying her face into his chest fur. The older kits laughed at the display.

"Esper Harlow, what did you do to your little sister?!" Lilliana yelled. The siblings looked up in surprise. "Nothing, I swear!" Esper yelled back. His Dam rolled her eyes, "Sure, whatever you say. Get inside, it's time for dinner, say good bye to Aspen." "See you tomorrow Aspen," The siblings said. Aspen smiled, "see you." He turned and walked off towards his own burrow.

"Go wash your paws and go sit at the table," Lilliana instructed her kits. "Yes Dam," They chorused. She smiled and led the five kits back to their home. They silently trooped through the living room into the kitchen, heading for the sink. One by one the siblings all washed their paws and took their seats at the table with Hawthorne. Esper left the sketch book on the counter so he wouldn't get anything on it.

Once they were all seated Lilliana put plates of some type of vegetable stir fry. "It looks delicious love," Hawthorne said, nuzzling his mate as she sat down beside him. She smiled and nuzzled him back, "thank you Hawthorn." The three younger kits gagged at the open display of affection while their older siblings simply rolled their eyes.

The adults chuckled and started on their meals. The family was silent for a minute before Hawthorne spoke up, "Where'd you get the book Esper?" He asked, gesturing to the black book. Esper looked up at his Da then at the book. "Oh that. Aster left it in the forest, I'm going to give it back to him at school tomorrow." Hawthorne frowned, "Aster? I thought you weren't friends with him anymore." "I'm not, we found him while we were exploring. He was drawing something in these two sketch books, but he accidentally left that one when he stormed off."

Lilliana frowned, "Cala has been saying that he's having trouble making friends, according to her he mostly just draws all day." Amaya snorted, "Serves him right." "Amaya! That was uncalled for!" Lilliana said sharply. "He's horrible Dam! He's rude, stubborn and an overall horrible kit!" She argued. "Amaya, he's not that bad," Esper protested.

Amaya spun to face him. "Why are you out of everyone defending him? Especially after everything he said to you!" She yelled. "We were eight Amaya! Everyone says stupid things when their eight!" He yelled back. Amaya growled, "Yeah well…"

"ENOUGH!" Lilliana yelled, "Stop screaming inside! Amaya, stop holding something that happened when you were little over Aster's head, it's getting old very fast! And Esper, don't say stupid in front of the little ones! Now stop arguing and eat!"

The two kits huffed and returned to their meal. The family was silent for the rest of their meal. When the twins had finished with their meal they put their dishes in the sink and turned to leave for their burrow. Esper grabbed Aster's book on his way out. The two walked silently, not wanting to say anything to each other. They exited their parents burrow and walked to their own, walking through the entrance and into the sitting room.

Amaya flopped down on the couch, grabbing a book precariously balanced on the arm rest. She opened it and began to read, ignoring her brother. Esper rolled his eyes and walked past her, going towards their nest. He walked down the hallway, opening the door to their nest room.

He grabbed a notebook off the book shelf and flopped back into the nest, rolling over onto his stomach. He put Aster's book on the edge of the nest as a reminder to bring it back to its owner tomorrow. He opened it and began to read the notes he had taken the week before in class. He was barely ten minutes into studying when he looked over at the book.

Surely he could take a look? It wasn't like Aster would know. If he just left it in the thirteen year olds class Aster would have it back and he wouldn't know who had returned it. He shook his head, he had been holding it for over an hour, and Aster would easily be able to smell him on it.

Esper tore his eyes away from the sketchbook, trying to turn his attention back to studying. He managed five more minutes before he looked back to the book. He bit his lip. It was Aster's private sketchbook, it wasn't his to look through. But it was just a sketchbook, not a journal, so it wouldn't have written entries. Even if it did he could surely just skip over them, after all he was terribly curious about how well Aster could draw.

Esper groaned, he wasn't going to get any studying done like this. Maybe just one peak and then he could focus on studying. He sighed and closed his notebook, setting it to the side for later. He reached over and grabbed the black book, setting it down in front of him.

He opened the book to the first page. There was a simple message that read "Property of E. Aster Bunnymund." He turned to the next page. On the page was a sketch of a single flower growing out of the ground. Esper whistled, the drawing was really well done, very detailed.

The next page depicted an adult pooka that Esper recognized as the thirteen year olds teacher. He was at the front of a class room writing on the chalk board. The room was mysteriously empty of kits however. "Does he eat lunch in the classroom?" Esper muttered. Everyone from the eight year olds to the twenty two year old near graduates ate outside.

That was their break from the boring school building and mess around and talk to their friend on the grounds. Confused, Esper flipped to the next page. This page held a detailed portrait of Fawn Bunnymund, one of Aster's littermates, as she slept in their nest. Esper smiled, "jeez As, that's a little weird."

Esper turned the page and gasped at the illustration. The picture depicted Esper sitting on a fallen log, chatting with two blurred out kits, undoubtedly Aspen and Amaya. The drawing was much more careful than the previous ones, suggesting that Aster had put a lot of effort into it. The picture perfectly captured him laughing, from the quirk of his lips to his easy posture.

"Wow…" He muttered, running his paw over the slight indentations of the darker lines.

He slowly turned the page, looking to the next drawing. This drawing was depicting a silent forest. The leaves bent slightly in the dappled sunlight, suggesting a light breeze. This wasn't nearly as detailed as the others, but Esper couldn't blame him. Drawing that much detail would take forever, he had probably run out of time and had to leave. Once he left he probably couldn't find the place he was drawing again so he couldn't finish it. The picture still looked incredibly serene and peaceful though, despite the lack of many details.

The next illustration again depicted Esper. This time however, he was alone. He also appeared to be sleeping. He was leaning against a tree by the Lake, his school things scattered at his feet.

Esper flushed deeply, "by the monarchs Aster, why the heck did you draw me while I was asleep?!" He said, barely keeping his voice down. He could remember when Aster must have drawn the picture. Three and a half months ago he had gone alone to the Lake to study for a test in peace and ended up falling asleep.

Aster must have had the same idea, he realized. Why didn't he wake Esper up and tell him to leave? He sure didn't seem to want Esper near him earlier that evening. Esper shook himself, Aster was probably just in need of something to draw and decided to draw him.

The contents of the next page caused him blush even more. Aster had once again drawn him, this time however, it was slightly less school appropriate. He was leaned over a bush, most likely to grab something he had dropped. His tail was perked up, and at the angle the picture was drawn he could see a small hint of his pink entrance peeking out of his fur.

"WHAT IN THE NAME OF THE GODS!" He yelled in embarrassment. "NOW WHAT'S WRONG IDIOT?" Amaya yelled from the other room. Esper looked over his shoulder, "NEVERMIND, IT'S NOTHING!" He yelled back.

He turned back to the picture, staring at it in confusion. Why would Aster draw him so much, especially in a position like that? It wasn't like Aster had a crush on him or anything like that, he was just as abrasive towards Esper as everyone else if not more. He hesitated, maybe it was like how an eight year old buck would shove a doe they liked down at recess. Only with rudeness and silence instead of shoving. Esper shook his head, 'don't be stupid, there's no way he likes me' he thought. Still, he couldn't tell if he found it creepy or flattering that Aster drew him like that.

Undecided, he flipped the page. Luckily or unluckily, this was a drawing of a small, underfed razorback panther cub lying in a bed of leaves. The six legged kitten was staring directly out of the page at him. Esper could see every rib on the poor thing, it was probably a runt that had been abandoned by its mother.

The time that the cats usually had kittens was about three months ago, so it wouldn't be odd if this kit was birthed slightly later in the season than usual. The pooka colony found several of these kittens abandoned around their settlement every year. Several predatory species did this, knowing that the pooka would kill the younglings before they could get to the kits the pookas had birthed that season.

Esper could see the breeze ruffle the kitten's ragged fur. Esper could see the spots that marked the kitten as a youngling, most likely only a few weeks old. They had had a cold winter so the wildlife population had dramatically dropped. The mother had most likely given up on being able to feed her kitten and left it.

Esper shivered, the idea of abandoning a kit was horrifying to him and the pooka as a whole. They were well known for their fierce devotion to their young to the other sentient species of the galaxy. It was well known that purposely harming a pooka kit was a good way to get killed or at least seriously maimed by the parents.

Esper sighed and turned the page, hopefully Aster had put the poor thing out of its misery. The image of the next page once again caused Esper to blush furiously. This time he was outside the school in the clearing, yawning and stretching. He was leaning back, his torso pushed out as he stretched out his spine. This picture, unlike the others, was in color.

The morning sun was just behind Esper, the golden light filtering though his fur, causing the doe's white coat to seem to glow. Esper bit his lip, he looked much better in this that he usually did. His eyes were much bluer than they usually were while his ears stretched out behind him, thinner looking than they actually were.

"Esper?" Amaya called, coming into the room. He honked in surprise and spun around. "Amaya! What do you need?" He asked, shoving the book behind him, out of his sibling's line of sight. Amaya raised an eyebrow, "could you quiz me on this, I'm not sure I have it down." Esper nodded, "sure, I'll be there in a minute." Amaya nodded and walked back to their living room.

Once she left Esper sprung up and hid the sketchbook in the book shelf. He turned and walked out of the room, giving one last glance at the book.


	8. Chapter 7

Esper's ears twitched as a small thump met his ears. Amaya grumbled and tightened her hold on him, curling protectively around her younger brother.

"HAPPY FOURTEENTH BIRTHDAY BIG SIBLINGS!" Willow, Rosalie, and Snowdrop yelled. Esper yelped in surprise, jumping up. Amaya swore under her breath as she startled awake.

"Willow, Rose, Snow that was not nice!" Lilliana chided, coming into the older siblings nest room. "But Dammy, you told us to wake them up," Snowdrop pouted. Lilliana rolled her eyes at her youngest, "gently Snowdrop, not to scream at them while they were asleep."

Esper chuckled and got up, padding over to his sister on all fours. He chinned the top of her head before turning and doing the same to Willow and Rosalie. Amaya groaned, "If it's our birthday why can't we sleep in?" She asked crossly. Snowdrop giggled, "So we can do more silly!"

Amaya grumbled and stood up, shaking herself. "Aww Amaya don't be such a spoil sport!" Esper said, sticking his tongue out at her. She glared at him, "You are an idiot." The younger kits gasped. "Dammy, Big Sister said a bad word!" They chorused. Lilliana shook her head, exasperated.

"Morning Dam," Esper said, standing up and bumping noses with her. She grinned and nuzzled him back, "Morning Esper, and happy birthday both of you." "Where's Da?" Amaya asked, walking up to her brother and dam. "He's the main burrow's sitting room," Lilliana said, "come on, let's not keep him waiting."

The twins exchanged a look and nodded, following their dam out of their burrow. The cool spring air bit at their noses as they emerged above ground, causing Amaya to sneeze. Esper laughed and dodged a blow aimed at his head. The younger kits chattered aimlessly behind as they entered the larger burrow, quieting as they entered the sitting room.

Hawthorne was sitting on the couch Lilliana usually sat on, the ginger buck's large bulk making him look odd against the small couch. He stood when he saw his family enter. "Happy birthday!" He said, walking over and nuzzling his elder kits. Esper purred as his Da embraced him, sinking into Hawthorne's familiar, safe scent.

Hawthorne chuckled, "It feels like it was yesterday I could hold you in one paw Esp. You've grown so big." Esper laughed, "It had to happen at some point Da." The ginger pooka sighed, "I suppose." He let go of Esper and stepped back.

"Present time!" Snowdrop yelled, running forward and jumping onto the larger couch. The family laughed and took their places around the room. Lilliana and Hawthorne sat together on the love seat, Lilliana leaning her head on her mates shoulder. Hawthorne pressed their foreheads together when he thought the kits weren't looking, getting a large smile out of his mate.

Esper and Amaya sat on the larger couch, Snowdrop sitting in Esper's lap while her siblings sat next to Amaya. "Ours first!" Snowdrop chirped, sliding off her brother's lap to get the present. "We worked really hard to get it!" Willow chirped, hugging Amaya's arm. She looked at him oddly, "Ok. Why are you hugging my arm?" He shrugged.

"Hey, pay attention!" Snowdrop exclaimed. Amaya rolled her eyes alright squirt, what's up?" Snowdrop grinned and held out a parcel. "It's for both of you!" Rosalie said. Esper nodded and took the wrapped package from his sister. Amaya pinched the wrapping and pulled it, ripping the covering. Esper brushed the thick paper off the package and regarded the present.

"Illusionary Magic for the Beginner," Amaya read. Esper grinned, "Awesome! Thanks you three!" Snowdrop grinned and hopped back into his lap, curling up against his chest. "You let them give this to us?" Amaya asked, holding up the book. Hawthorne nodded, "you are testing for specialties soon right? It would be good to study a secondary magic as well." The twins nodded in acceptance.

"Well I guess it's our turn love," Lilliana said. Hawthorne chuckled, "I guess it is." Lilliana sighed and stood up, walking out of the room and down a hallway, disappearing into her and Hawthorne's room. A moment later she emerged, carrying two objects. She set one of the objects on the loveseat before turning to the kits.

"Esper first," she said. He looked at her curiously. She smiled and held out a long staff. Snowdrop got off of his lap so he could stand up. The staff was just a few inches taller than him, ending in a crook that curled at his ears.

The staff was mostly smooth, a few scratches at the crook marked it as used but well cared for. Esper turned to his dam, "Dam," she shook her head, "wait. Amaya next." She handed the elder of the two a sword sheath. Amaya took it from her, pulling apart the handle and sheath to reveal a gleaming metal blade.

Lilliana smiled sadly, "These were your parents. The staff belonged to your Dam, Evergreen. The sword belonged to your Da, Rue," she explained. The twins looked at each other. "Our parents..." Esper said, emotion overwhelming him. He felt tears prick at his eyes. His dam wielded the very same staff he now held in his paws.

"Rue and Evergreen what? What was their family name?" Amaya asked. The adults looked at each other. "Willow, Rosalie, Snowdrop go play outside," Hawthorn ordered. "But!" "Now Snow," he said. The younger kits pouted and got off the couch, walking out of the burrow.

When they were sure the younger kits had left the mated couple turned to their adoptive kits. They looked at each other before Hawthorne sighed. "Your family name is Frosti," Lilliana explained. Their mouths dropped open. "Frosti, as in the line of Winter Frosti?!" Amaya exclaimed.

They nodded. The kits looked at each other. "Our parents were the King and Queen of Winter," Esper said numbly, dropping back to sit on the couch. "Wait, doesn't that mean that we're the last of the line of Winter?" Amaya asked, "Wouldn't one of us have to be the next Winter monarch?"

Hawthorne sighed, "Yes it does, on both accounts." Amaya laughed, somewhat hysterically, "My money's on Esper." He looked up at her, "Amaya…" She shook her head, "Why didn't you tell us? Do you have any idea how much I, we, wondered who our parents were? Why didn't you tell us? Did you not trust us?" She accused.

Lilliana bit her lip and stepped forward, placing a paw on Amaya's shoulder, "Amaya, it wasn't that-," "THEN WHAT WAS IT?" She yelled, clenching her paws around the handle of Rue's sword. Hawthorne tensed, unsure what his adoptive daughter was going to do. Lilliana frowned, "We didn't tell you because we wanted you to grow up and have a normal kit hood."

Amaya scoffed and brushed Lilliana's paw off her shoulder, "sure, keep telling yourself that." "Amaya! What has gotten into you?!" Hawthorne exclaimed. Amaya wheeled to face him, growling angrily, "my problem? My problem is that you kept something so important from us for fourteen damn years!"

Hawthorne snarled back, "We did it to keep you safe and happy!" Esper and Lilliana whimpered in sync as the scent of two angry bucks flooded the burrow. The does backed up, watching the arguing bucks warily. "IF YOU CARED ABOUT OUR HAPPINESS YOU WOULD HAVE TOLD US ABOUT OUR PARENTS!" Amaya snapped, advancing toward her adoptive father.

"A-Amaya calm down," Esper said, desperately trying to ignore the voice nagging at his mind to run and wait for the confrontation to be over. She turned to him, "Why should I? They kept this from us for our entire lives! Why aren't you as pissed as I am?!" She yelled.

Esper took a couple steps back, "I'm upset, but there's no reason to be so upset!" He said. Amaya hissed, "No reason to be upset? They kept our parents from us! They kept the fact that we had responsibilities to the season of Winter!"

Lilliana frowned, "what do you think you could have done Amaya? You are a kit! You are not an adult, you are not the King! What could you possibly have done?" "We could reassured everyone that the line of Winter wasn't dead!" She snarled back.

Hawthorne growled and stepped in between his mate and adoptive kit. "Amaya calm down," Lilliana said, looking nervously between the two bucks. "You know what? Fuck you, all of you!" She yelled. She turned and stormed out of the burrow.

The three pooka stared after, blown away by the young buck's reaction. Hawthorne let out an angry snarl, turning and stalking over to his mate. Esper stepped away from his Dam, unsure if he should leave. After all, he wasn't technically related to Hawthorne, if he had actually gone feral like Esper thought he had he might not recognize him as his kit.

Lilliana was forced to look up at her mate as the large ginger buck backed her up against the wall. Hawthorne leaned down and sniffed at Lilliana's neck, growling when he smelled Amaya's scent. Esper yelped as Hawthorne suddenly bit Lilliana's shoulder. His father snapped up to look at him growling threateningly.

Esper backed away on all fours, ears back and not meeting Hawthorn's eyes. Hawthorne sniffed, trying to smell him. Lilliana looked at him, indicating for him to leave. Esper turned and raced out of the burrow, leaving his staff behind.

He let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding when he made it outside. He looked around. Neither Amaya nor the kits were anywhere to be seen. He sighed when he smelled the kits scent leading down into his and Amaya's burrow. Sighing, he turned and walked into the forest, not paying attention to where his feet where taking him as long as it was _away_.

Why hadn't they told them about their parents? Did they not trust them? He and Amaya had spent so long trying to figure out who their parents were, who their family was. So many nights they had stayed up talking about it until Hawthorne had come to check on them and they had to pretend to be asleep. Had their need to know who they were really meant so little to them that they hadn't even told them their names? Tears pricked at Esper's eyes at the thought. He roughly wiped at his eyes.

What had happened to their parents? Why hadn't they told them _anything_about their parents? Tears started to spill down Esper's cheeks. He started to weep, suddenly stopping and sitting down on a log. Esper bit his lip as he finally began to grieve for his parents.

"H-Hey what got into you?" Someone asked. "Go away," he muttered, not looking up and not really recognizing the voice. "I was here first you daft kit, you leave." Esper finally looked up at his companion. Aster Bunnymunds concerned face stared down at him. "What do you want?" He asked miserably. "I want to know why you come here looking like someone's murdered your entire family and suddenly burst into tears!" The stormy grey buck exclaimed.

Fresh tears escaped his eyes at the mention of his family. "Oh shit…" Aster muttered, leaning back and running a paw over the top of his head. "Look, Esper I can't help you if you don't tell me what's wrong," he said, annoyance seeping into his tone. Esper shook his head, "never mind, it's none of your concern, we're not friends or anything like that." Aster frowned, "Hey now…" "LEAVE ME ALONE ASTER!" He yelled.

Aster grabbed him and pulled him into a tight hug. "What are you doing?! Let me go!" Esper yelled, pounding his paws against Aster's back. Aster didn't respond, weathering the doe's half-hearted blows.

Slowly Esper stopped hitting Aster, simply pressing his face into the crook of Aster's neck, sobbing loudly. Aster held him tightly, rubbing soothing circles in his back. They simply stood there for nearly ten minutes, no words passing between them. Eventually Esper pulled away, embarrassed he had broken down so completely in front of his ex-friend who may or may not hate him.

"Better now?" Aster asked. Esper nodded, "Y-Yeah. Look, I need to go find Amaya and talk to her… Thank you, for this." Aster nodded, "It's fine, go find that stupid sister of yours." Esper gave a small smile and ran back towards his family's burrows.

Aster stared after him, watching as he disappeared into the forest. When he was sure the other had left he pressed a paw to his neck. He could feel the dampness Esper's tears had left in his fur. A moment later he pulled his paw away, moving to sniff it. Esper's scent clung to his paw, a mixture of upset doe and angry buck changing his usual sweet scent dramatically. Aster sighed and shook his head, going back to his sketchbook.

Esper raced back towards the burrows. Amaya might be in their burrow, if not he would check with Aspen. A few minutes of running and he was back home. He walked down the entrance into the burrow, entering the sitting room.

Amaya was sitting on the love seat, staring at the sword laying on the low table in front of her. "Amaya?" He said. She looked up at him. "Oh, hey Esper," she said. Esper chuckled dryly, "I think after that stunt you pulled I should get something beyond 'hey Esper'. Just saying."

Amaya groaned, "Yeah well I was upset, I yelled, it happens." "You turned Da feral," he said. Amaya raised a brow, "really?" "Really," Esper confirmed. She shook her head, "I'm sorry Esp, I was just so mad and I took it out on you…" Esper shook his head, "You took it out on Dam, not me." Amaya's ears went back in guilt, "I should go apologize."

Esper coughed, embarrassed, "I wouldn't suggest doing that now," he said. "Why?" Amaya asked. "Well they're probably having rough sex right now to calm Da down," Esper pointed out. Amaya flushed, "Ok, not a good idea." Esper nodded, "oh, by the way Amaya?" "Yes?" "Happy Birthday." She rolled her eyes, "you dork." Esper laughed.

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><p>Ok, so two people have pointed out to me that I've used Jack instead of Esper. Don't be afraid to point that out, I won't bite I swear!<p>

Also, just so you know, long reviews are like a free buffet of sweets for everyone else, we authors love them!


	9. Chapter 8

Hello everyone! So, I bet you're wondering why I'm updating, after all I update every other week. Well, I've decided to start updating every week! Yep! So I'll get to the good part much quicker! Anyway, Enjoy!

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><p>"Hey Esper, wake up," Amaya hissed, poking her brother. Esper raised his head off his desk, blinking blearily before turning and looking at her. He yawned, "Why'd you wake me up?" He asked tiredly.<p>

She snorted, "Oh I don't know. Maybe because you fell asleep in the middle of class?" Esper bolted up right, "crap! How long was I out?" He asked. Amaya snorted, "not very long, only about five minutes. Mr. Ashi just went to get the fighting instructor a little bit ago. Actually where are they? They should have gotten back by now. ASPEN WAKE UP!"

The sleeping Buck bolted awake, "I'm up!" He yelled. Amaya rolled her eyes, "why were both of you asleep? I thought you were excited to learn to fight?" Aspen shrugged, "doesn't stop me from being tired," he said. Esper nodded in agreement.

Suddenly the classroom door banged open, revealing a brown adult buck who stepped into the room. "Alright kits, listen up!" The instructor yelled, "I'm Coach Cliff, you brats will refer to me as Coach or Coach Cliff got it?" The class nodded. "Good, now come with me!" The coach yelled, turning and walking out of the door.

The class stood up and followed the coach, leaving their study materials behind. They followed the adult pooka out of the building, walking to an empty field near the school. When the entire class gathered in the clearing as the coach began to speak.

"Now, as a lot of you know, all of the bucks are required to serve a six month tour of duty in the military by the time you turn thirty. The does can do the same, but it's optional. It's my job to make sure you brats aren't completely useless for when slash if you do! Now, which of you brats thinks you know how to fight?" The class looked nervously at each other before a cocky young buck stepped forward.

"What's your name kit?" Coach asked. "Hickory Springs Coach," he replied. Coach nodded, "you think your strong kit? You think you can fight? Hickory smirked, "look at me coach, I got this." Esper rolled his eyes, typical head strong jack, trying to prove himself to the does in the class.

"Alright, you think you're good? Come at me," Coach Cliff challenged. Hickory smirked and charged at the older buck, swinging a fist at the coach's face. Coach rolled his eyes and grabbed Hickory's fist, stepping out of the way and pulling Hickory forward. Off balance, it took one push from Coach to knock the young buck to the ground. Hickory stood up brushed himself off, grumbling loudly. "Alright, now that I've had my fill of idiotic, arrogant kits, anyone want to guess what he did wrong."

"Everything," Amaya said. He raised an eyebrow, "explain..." "Amaya. His footing was too narrow so he was easily thrown off balance. Then he threw a completely obvious punch and didn't take it into account that it could be used against him. He also didn't react quickly enough, or rather not at all, when you countered," Amaya explained.

The coach nodded, "huh. Well at least one of you isn't completely hopeless. All of you get into rows, I'm going to show you a basic stance and some punches. We're going to work on that for a little bit and then some brats from the year up are going to help me," Coach said.

The kits scrambled to get in line, not wanting to cross this teacher. He moved a few pooka around before announcing they were satisfactory. "First things first, stances! When you begin a fight or spar you want it begin in a basic, relaxed stance to help you react better to your opponents," Coach instructed, "the basic position is to have your knees slightly bent and your arms raised slightly. You want to put your weight on your toes instead of the balls of your feet. This will help you balance and allow you to move in any direction. It looks like this."

He fell into the position, showing the kits what it was supposed to look like. "Alright, keep like that, I'll come around to correct you," he instructed. He slowly made his way around the class, muttering instructions to some of them. When he got to Amaya he nodded in approval before turning to Esper.

"Widen your legs and bend your legs a bit more," he said before moving on. Once he made it back to the front he addressed the kits. "Well, congratulations, most of you aren't completely useless," Coach Cliff said, "time for step two! Now listen very carefully. Hold out your dominant paw." Most of the kits held out their left paws, one or two holding out their right. Coach nodded, "Alright, now curl your fingers into your palm. Stick out your thumb like you're flipping someone off and lay it just below your knuckles." The class did as instructed, some of the cheekier kits, including Esper, took the opportunity to flip off their friends.

Amaya rolled her eyes and smacked Esper upside the head. Coach raised an eyebrow at her, "I'll pretend I didn't see that. Anyway that's the proper way to make a fist. Don't tuck your thumb into your fingers, the force of hitting something will break your thumb in two. The next step is to learn a flexible stance that allows you to both attack and defend. You'll need to hold your legs like in the passive stance, but you'll want to make a fist in both paws raise your arms like this."

The coach sunk into the stance, holding his paws up, his dominant paw resting several inches in front of his chin while the other hovered an inch or two below. The class copied the stance, waiting for the coach to come and judge their stance. Coach Cliff rolled his eyes before coming to check on the kits progress. He passed over Esper and Amaya, but knocked Aspen's paw further from his face.

He nodded in satisfaction, "Remember to hold your paws several inches from your face, otherwise if someone whacks you you'll hit yourself in the chin." The class chuckled. "Don't laugh yet, at least one of you is going to do it during sparing," he said. He looked around, "I was supposed to have some helpers from the class above yours, but apparently they're not coming."

"We're right here coach," a kit called, coming towards the clearing, two flanking him. Esper recognized the kit who spoke as Rowanoak Bunnymund, the eldest Aster's litter mates. He had the classic green eyes of a Bunnymund, but his were darker than his brother's, closer to hunter green than Aster's spring green. The kit to Rowanoak's left didn't look familiar to Esper, but the one on his right definitely was.

Why was Aster here? Shouldn't he be excused from fighting practice because of his leg? Esper though. Aster noticed Esper staring at him, causing the young buck to scowl and look away. A huge weight seemed to hit Esper's chest. His primary heart felt as if it was being wrapped in chains and dragged to the bottom of The Lake.

"Esp you ok?" Amaya asked, looking over him, concerned. He nodded, suddenly unable to find his voice. "How far'd ya get with em?" The unknown kit asked. "We just got to the high guarding stance, we were about to go over punching," the coach explained. The three new comers nodded, stepping behind the coach to watch the new class.

"Alright! This is Rowanoak Bunnymund, his brother Aster, and Daisy Leaven. They're in the class above yours. Now back to class! Once you're in the high guarding stance what you'll want to do is to send your arm straight out like this," he demonstrated. "Practice with that, we'll be around to help," he said.

Esper nodded and tried the move. The movement was much easier than he expected, the positioning of his paw allowing him to punch very easily. Encouraged, he kept doing it, finding it oddly fun to do. He yelped as Amaya turned and punched him in the shoulder. "What was that for?" He asked, rubbing his shoulder. "Aster's staring at you," she pointed out.

His eyes widened, his hearts suddenly skipping a beat. Amaya stared at him, confused by his odd reaction. "What's up with you?" She asked. He flushed and shook his head, "nothing!" She rolled her eyes at him, "sure." Due to their position neither kit saw Aspen clench a paw, staring longingly at the white furred sibling. Esper shook himself and went back to practicing, ignoring both Amaya and Aspen.

"I should have figured you'd get into this," Aster muttered, coming over to Esper. "Don't put so much force into your punches unless you're hitting something. You'll strain your shoulder if you do," he advised. Esper nodded, stopping and turning to Aster, "alright then." "Also you're holding your weight wrong, you'll want to lean forward and place the bulk of your weight in your toes not spread out along your foot. That way you can move more freely," Aster explained.

"Like this?" He asked, getting back into his stance. "Close, but still too far back, like this." Aster placed a paw on Esper's back, lightly nudging him forward. The touch on his back sent tingles through his spine, causing Esper's primary heart to flutter.

"Who are you to give advice? Can you even do this with that bum leg of yours?" Amaya hissed, "Also, why do you think you have the right to touch my brother?!" Aster growled, "I'm trying to do my job you thick headed twit! And I can fight just fine, thank you very much!" Esper looked between the nervously, the two buck's rising pheromones being to set him off. He locked eyes with Aspen who shrugged, just as lost as he was.

"Hey, calm down Amaya, he was just trying to help!" Esper said. She scoffed, "Are you kidding me? He hates you, don't listen to him, he'll just try to sabotage you! If you need help, get Daisy or Coach to help you instead." Aster snarled, stepping forward, "Excuse me?"

"Is there a problem here?" Coach Cliff asked, coming over to the fighting kits. "No sir, there isn't," Aster said, glaring hatefully at Amaya. The coach raised an eyebrow, "Sure Aster. I saw you go over problems with the white one, so Amaya and brown one show me what you got." Amaya and Aspen went through the motions, Amaya was much more receptive to feedback from coach than Aster.

"The white one?" Esper muttered, vaguely offended. "Don't mind coach, he'll call you by your coat color until he gets your name," Aster said, obviously still slightly annoyed, "He called me 'the blue one' for seven months straight." Esper snickered, "Is he that bad at learning names?"

"I can hear you white one," Coach said, not looking back from Amaya's demonstration. Esper's ears went back in embarrassment. Aster rolled his eyes and walked off, not responding to Esper's question. Esper stared after him, not taking his eyes off Aster's back.

"White one, stop checking out Aster and get back to work!" Coach yelled. Esper flushed as Aster turned back to look at him, a surprised yet vaguely hopeful expression on the young buck's face. Esper quickly turned forward and continued punching at thin air, keeping in mind the things Aster had told him.

By the time the class was over all the kits were panting for breath, thoroughly exhausted. They had learned a high and medium guard along with punches and basic blocking. "Practice that over the break. Also since this is last period I've been told to remind you that you don't have school for the next three days," Coach Cliff said. Some of the class nodded while others simply stared at him, too tired to respond.

He shook his head, "you all are weak. You can leave now." Many of the kits perked up at that, turning and walking back to the school building to get their study materials. "Hey Esper, what's up with you and Aster today?" Amaya asked, "You usually don't put up with him, but today you were all over him!" Esper flushed, "I was not! He was being civil so I was too!"

"It did look like you two were pretty friendly," Aspen said. He groaned, "not you too! He's kind of bearable when he's not being an asshole." Aspen raised a brow, "wouldn't that be all the time?" He asked. Esper glared at him, "No! The few times I've caught him alone he was actually pretty nice." Amaya groaned, "oh no, don't tell me you like him." Esper sputtered, "I didn't say that!" Amaya raised a brow.

"I hate you two," Esper muttered, turning and running towards the building. He didn't really like Aster did he? He thought, coming through the doors. Yeah he had been nice a few times, but that didn't excuse how much of an asshole he was the rest of time. He shook his head, it was just his hormones getting to him, he was due for his first heat soon, so that was probably it. He walked into his room, leaning over next to his chair to grab his notebook under the seat.

"So you're Esper," a voice said. Esper yelped and shot up, banging his head on the desk on his way up. He hissed and rubbed his head, turning to face the one who'd spoken. Rowanoak stood next to him, obviously trying not to laugh.

Esper huffed, "yes I am. It's cruel to laugh at someone else's pain you know," he said. Rowanoak chuckled, "I guess so. You know, despite your being friends with my brother for eight years of your lives, I don't think I've been properly introduced to you." "Huh, I guess so. I've met most of your siblings, but I've never met you," Esper agreed.

Rowanoak laughed, "you haven't met very many of my siblings. Most of them are already grown with grand kits of their own." Esper's eyes widened, "Wow. Now I get the whole 'breed like a Bunnymund' joke." The buck laughed, "Yep! That'd be my family." "So why do you want to meet me now, Aster and I haven't been friends for years," Esper pointed out.

Rowanoak hummed, "true. But the thing is I just wanted to meet the doe that my brother constantly goes on and on about." Esper flushed, "w-what?" The other kit smirked, "yep, its kind annoying actually. Annoying but sweet. Some times he's complaining about you, most of the time he's complaining about your sister, but usually he just goes on and on about you." At this point Esper's ears had pinned themselves to his neck in embarrassment.

Rowanoak smirked, "it's slightly creepy actually, and he'll sometimes follow you around, just where you can't see him. Creepy at our age anyway. Any older and I'm pretty sure he'd be trying to court you." Esper's eyes widened, his primary and secondary hearts skipping a beat. "W-What?" He said, "You're kidding, he's an asshole whenever he's around me and my sister."

"And that brown buck you constantly hang out with," Rowanoak pointed out. "Personally I think he's jealous of… what's his name?" "Aspen," Esper choked out. "Him. I think that he wishes he was in Aspen's place. He has sketchbooks full of drawings of you, they're really good actually," Rowanoak said.

Esper coughed awkwardly, "I know. I found one." Rowanoak suddenly cracked up, "seriously? Was it one of _those_ ones?" Esper tilted his head, confused, "one of_those_ ones?" His companion pouted, "Darn it isn't. Pity, that would have been and interesting conversation." Esper froze, "wait, it's not what I'm thinking is it?" Rowanoak grinned, "maybe yes, maybe no. Maybe you'll never know!"

"What are you doing you idiot?" Aster asked, coming into the classroom, looking vaguely annoyed. "Nothing," Rowanoak said, "well we have to get home. Nice to meet you Esper!" The two siblings walked away.

To Esper's disappointment Aster never once looked at him, keeping his gaze firmly on his brother. He shook his head, no time to be thinking about that, he should get home as well, he still needed to do his chores in the garden.


	10. Chapter 9

Hey, just thought I should warn you, with this chapter things are going to explicit. Yeah there's porn in this one. Well one confused kit basically getting high of his own hormones and wanking like no tomorrow. *giggles* Oh I'm so happy that Esper's finally growing up, I can get to the romance! (And the smut (like actual sex, not just Espy getting off)) Just so you know, I've just discovered the lovely thing that is prewritten chapters and I'm loving it! There's way less stress… I'm writing this two days after chapter 7 was released and six minutes after I finished chapter 8. I'm so prepared for once…

Anyway, on with the chapter!

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><p>Esper groaned as he woke up, feeling uncomfortably hot and itchy. He sat up, stretching out his arms. He looked around, sniffing softly. He could smell the fading scent of Amaya, his buck litter mate had moved out a few days ago because of his incoming heat.<p>

Esper groaned, finally realizing what was happening. He was in heat. Preheat probably, considering that he still had some of his wits about him. He yawned and got up, ignoring the instincts screaming for him to stay in the safety of his nest in favor of getting a glass of water from the kitchen. He padded into his kitchen, stretching up and grabbing a glass from the top cabinet.

Esper shuddered as he rubbed against the counter. The cool wood felt amazing against his feverish fur. He put the glass down and leaned to press his torso on the counter. He moaned as the coolness sank into his fur, dulling the growing heat. Esper slowly began to rock against the counter, rubbing his sensitive crotch on the wooden compartment doors.

He mewled as his member slowly slid out of its sheath. He reached down and grasped his penis, stroking the vestigial organ. Esper moaned, speeding up his strokes until the heat nearly drove him wild. Suddenly he felt so empty, he need something inside of him. He cried out, calling for someone, anyone, to help him with this heat. To help him, sate him, fill him, breed him until he was stuffed full of his buck's kits. However, because of his lack of a mate the mating call went unanswered.

He continued to hump the counter, slowly getting closer and closer to coming. Esper screamed as his body was rocked by his first orgasm. He slumped against the counter, his legs shaking and threatening to give out beneath him. A small amount of useless ejaculation ran down the compartment door, prompting a groan from Esper.

He grabbed a sponge from the sink and cleaned it up, putting the sponge back in the sink. He ran some water over it before turning and racing back to his nest. He pulled the door closed behind him, muttering a few commands to lower the magical lights. He curled up in his nest, rubbing his scent glands on the fabric, marking the nest as his own.

The heat riddled doe looked up and took in the nest. It wasn't right, his instincts decided. It wasn't soft enough for him and his soon to be newborn kits to rest in. A moment later he stood up, grabbing the blankets and tearing them away from their resting places. Soon the blankets were all in a pile next to the dip where his nest would be.

First he selected a thick blanket to line the bottom of the nest. Once he had laid that down he grabbed another, thicker blanket, but this one was plushier. That joined the nest, soon joined by layers that were softer and would retain heat better. When it was finished he stepped back to run a critical eye over his nest. He nodded and grunted his approval, his kits would be comfortable and safe in this nest.

Esper crawled back into the piled blankets, purring happily at the soft feeling. He took a moment to just lay in his creation, continuing to purr. He gasped as a wave of heat suddenly rushed through him, causing his member to peak out of his sheath. The wave of heat left him feeling suddenly empty, a trail of slick sliding out of his empty hole.

He whined and turned onto his stomach, trailing his paw down his spine. He shuddered in delight as his fingers brushed against his wet hole. Slow he pushed one finger in, wiggling as the digit slipped inside him. Soon a second finger joined the first, scissoring inside of him. Esper turned onto his side, carefully keeping his digits inside his hole. His other paw grasped his member, tugging in time to his fingers.

The heat riddled Doe moaned helplessly, desperately seeking release from his fingers. A few more pumps and he came, fluid spurting from his cock and landing on the nest. Esper sighed in relief as the heat receded somewhat.

A moment later he froze. There was a buck wasn't there? A buck who was interested in him. Why wasn't he here with him? His mind conjured up an image of the buck. The buck was young, just like he was, but he was strong. Esper had seen that in the few times he had seen the blue gray buck had fought. Aster he remembered, that was the buck's name. He mewled as he imagined Aster here, on top of him.

The mental Aster ran his paws down Esper's sides, memorizing the feeling of the young doe's body. Suddenly he flipped Esper over, pulling his hips up into the air. He followed after his fantasy, lifting his hips to offer himself to the missing buck. In his mind he could hear Aster snarl, pressing his fingers into Esper's dripping hole.

Esper put his fingers inside himself, moaning as he felt his loose hole, dripping with slick and ready for him to be mounted by his mate. The fantasy Aster realized this as well and pulled back. Esper let out a short cry, calling his chosen buck back to him. The buck roared and plunged back down, pressing his hot member into Esper's waiting hole. He squealed as his fingers rubbed against his prostate, bucking his hips into his fingers.

In his mind it was not his fingers, but his buck's member pressing so forcefully against his sweet spot. The back nipped at his neck, sucking at his pulse point. Esper could feel himself involuntarily clench on his fingers, driving them even further against his prostate. He shrieked as he came, the ghostly feel of Aster slowly disappearing.

He collapsed, boneless against his plush nest, his fingers still buried in his ass. After a moment he took them out, groaning a little at the slick feeling. Esper curled up, licking at his ruffled fur. His fur felt so hot, and grooming it with his barbed tongue seemed to help somewhat.

Slowly he groomed his entire body, paying special attention to his stomach. After all, once his chosen buck came it would be full of their kits. He licked softly at the small teats hidden beneath his fur. If all went well they'd soon swell with delicious milk for his kittens. Maybe, before the kits were born, the buck out drink from him as well, swirling the doe's swollen teat around his hot mouth as he drank the white nutritious liquid.

Esper shivered in arousal, he couldn't wait to be stuffed full of kittens. He shouldn't have to wait long would he? The buck probably hadn't realized that he had gone into heat, he would be here soon, Esper was sure of it. After all, his buck wouldn't leave him to suffer through this terrible heat alone right?

Apparently he would.

Esper cried as he felt the dying flames of heat licking at his body. The buck had never come, he had left the doe to suffer his heat alone. He had left him for an agonizing four days. He sobbed, he felt so empty, he wasn't full of his buck's cum or his kits. They had missed the opportunity for kittens, Esper wouldn't be able to get pregnant until the following year when his heat started up again. Slowly he fell back asleep, tears rolling down his cheek.

Esper woke from his heat with a groan, a headache pounding on the inside of his skull. He rubbed his head and sat up, surveying his room for damage. The blankets desperately needed to be washed, and the room needed to be aired out, but otherwise everything was as he left it. He stood up careful, minding the burning feeling in his ass.

He stretched, stretching cramped muscles. His fingers were sore, it hurt to curl them too much, especially on his left paw. He padded out of the room, going into the bathroom.

He turned on the faucet to the bath tub. Once the water had warmed up he put in the stopper and went back into the nest. He leaned over and grasped the dirty blankets, pulling them all up in one try. Carefully he made his way back to the bathroom, unable to see around the huge pile of fabric. Once he made it back into the bathroom he dumped the pile onto the stone floor.

Esper turned and opened the cabinet beneath the sink. He pulled out a bottle of special, extra strength soap and a sponge his Dam had given him exactly for this purpose. Some of the soap was drizzled into the bath before the first of the blankets were dumped into the warm water. He scrubbed at the blanket, trying to get the white fluid out of the material.

When he deemed it acceptably clean he pulled it out of the soapy water, wringing it out before putting it to the side. The next blanket joined the previous in its fate, dumped into the now somewhat dirty water. Esper scrubbed at the fabric, getting the sticky liquid out of this one much easier. This one must have been further down in the nest.

The young doe repeated this process several times, draining and refilling the water every three blankets or so. Finally he stood up, stretching out his cramped back. He stepped into the bath himself this time, pulling closed the rarely used shower curtain.

Usually pooka groomed themselves with their tongues, but certain circumstances required bathing with another method. Esper turned on the water, making it fairly hot before sighing and leaning into the stream. He allowed the water to simply wash over him for a few moments, relaxing the doe's sore muscles.

Esper leaned over and grasped a brush from where it was laying on the shower's edge. The wooden brush was specially designed to help get various things out of a pooka's fur coat. He had heard that the Lunarians used them to groom their 'dogs', whatever those were, but otherwise only the pooka used them.

He ran the brush over his back, allowing what little filth had accumulated there to rinse out. He then turned and faced the stream, brushing his much dirtier front. This side took much longer to rinse out, the water didn't run clear for a full five minutes. When he pronounced himself clean he turned off the shower and opened the curtain.

He grabbed a towel to dry himself off with, rubbing his white fluffy fur dry. He stepped out of the shower, groaning in annoyance when he saw a small puddle of water forming around the pile of cleaned blankets. He'd deal with that later, he decided. Right now he was going to get his fur in working order again.

He grabbed a regular brush off the sink, brushing down the crazy fur. When he deemed himself presentable he placed the brush back on its resting place on the sink. He walked into the hallway, looking up and down the straight hall, trying to remember where he put it. He finally spotted it on the table in the sitting room. Grinning, he walked over and grabbing the rope line.

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><p>Aster sighed, rubbing his head in annoyance. Esper had been missing from school for four days now. He was waiting outside Esper's family's burrow complex, waiting for Esper's Dam or Da to come out.<p>

He would never admit it, but he was worried about the white doe. The logical part of his mind told him that Esper was just sick or was in heat, but the illogical part of his head (Also the part of his that was obsessed with the white doe) kept screaming that Esper might be hurt and that he needed help.

Aster shook his head, he'd ask about Esper and then leave. After all, wasn't it is right to be worried about the beau-_careless_ doe? He was helping teach him to fight, so he should be worried if he didn't come to class four days in a row.

Aster suddenly heard noises coming from one of the burrows. Aster looked up, nearly gasping. Esper came out of his burrow, a spool of clothesline held in one paw. However, that wasn't what held the young buck attention. What caught his attention was the doe's obviously damp fur. The heavier than normal fluff was pressed down, revealing Esper's slim build to all those around. He was so beautiful, Aster thought, dazed.

His eyes widened, and he shook his head in denial. He did not think that Esper Harlow was _beautiful._ Yes, his mind said, beautiful didn't begin to cover him. The doe was sexy, extremely so, but even that didn't cover the doe's natural attractiveness.

Esper hadn't shifted his appearance, unlike a lot of does in his grade, choosing to keep what nature gave him. He was short, but not overly so, with a thin waist and wide hips. His coat was stunning silvery white, with geometric prisms covering his upper arms and legs. The doe also had elegant long, slim ears covered in silver fur.

His eyes were drawn back to Esper as the doe walked over to a tree and tied the line to an extruding limb. The branch was just above Esper's head, causing the doe to stretch up on his toes. From this angle he could see the doe's stomach stretch, exposing Esper's white belly to him.

He gulped, fighting down his hormones. At seventeen, he was nearly full grown, he could take a mate in a few years, and his hormones had been all over the place. He wondered if Esper felt the same rush of hormones triggered by random members of the opposite sex. But Esper isn't random, his mind whispered slyly, he's the _one,_ we're sure of it. He flushed, suddenly glad that Esper hadn't spotted him yet.

Once he was done tying the rope to the tree Esper turned and walked to the base of another tree. He quickly tied off another knot, cutting the remaining rope with his claws. The doe turned and walked back into his nest.

Aster breathed a sigh in relief, the doe hadn't spotted him. A minute later Esper immerged from his nest, a pile of wet blankets in paw. He watched as Esper hung the blankets up one by one. He had definitely gone into heat, Aster realized.

He shivered as he suddenly imagined Esper in heat. In his mind's eye he could see the silvery white doe stretched out, panting with need, begging for him. He could nearly hear the doe calling for him, begging him to mate him, to breed him.

Aster growled underneath his breath, shaking himself out of his fantasy. Esper wouldn't do that, not for him at least. If the beautiful, amazing doe would do that for anyone, it would Aspen. Aster snarled as he thought of the other buck, the one so clearly interested in Esper.

Maybe if he beat the younger buck in a spar Esper would be more inclined to like him? His mind wondered. Yes, Aspen was younger, but only by six months. Plus Aster was more experienced than the other buck in basically everything. Aspen was decent at fighting, but Aster was better. Plus Aster had great control over his spring magic, so great in fact that his father had begun to wonder if he was a Spring Heir.

Surely that would impress Esper if nothing else? Heirs were very powerful magic wise, not to mention that they were a bit more fertile than the rest of the population. Aspen was from a no name Spring family, but Aster's great, great grandfather was the King of Spring, that had to count for something.

"Aster? What are you doing here?" Esper suddenly asked. The buck looked up in surprise, he had been so engrossed in his thoughts that he didn't realize that his presence had been noticed.

"Why were you out of school for so long?" He asked, the question coming out more hostilely than he had intended. Esper blinked, his ears pinning back in embarrassment, "ah… I went into heat. My first so, yeah." Aster raised an eyebrow, "Ah." He turned to leave.

"Wait! Aster!" Esper called. He turned, startled. Esper shuffled nervously, "I have something of yours, I've been meaning to return it for a while. Let me go get it real quick." The doe turned and rushed into his burrow, presumably to retrieve said object. Aster tilted his head in confusion, he wasn't missing anything belongings of his was he?

A moment later Esper burst through the burrow's exit, something clutched in his paws. He rushed up to Aster, holding out the object for him to take. Aster to stop himself from gasping. At this distance he could smell the fading scent of the doe's heat, the sweet musky scent was extremely enticing. He began to breathe through his mouth, trying to ignore his rising arousal.

The object Esper held out was a black, untitled thin book. He frowned, "Esper, I don't think that that's mine,' he said. "It is!" Esper insisted, "You left it at The Lake when you were thirteen, I just never got around to returning it to you."

This was the sketch book he lost, he realized. He had gotten himself so worked up after losing that, he didn't want to see the drawings of Esper he had in there, especially the more… erotic ones. Not that they were that erotic. Especially in light of the ones he drew now.

"Oh, that thing," he said dismissively, "I don't really care about it. It's just horrible scribbles that I did when I was younger." Esper gaped at him, "horrible? These are amazing Aster!" "You looked through them?" Aster asked, panicking.

Esper flinched, waiting for the inevitable blow up, "uh yeah, once or twice." Aster let out a breath, "all of it?" The doe nodded nervously.

"Keep it," Aster said, surprising both of them. Esper gawked, "You're not mad?" He asked, confounded. Aster shook his head, "Nah, you might as well see it, you'll appreciate it more that I will." Esper nodded, relieved. "Hey, if you think that this is so horrible, which it isn't by that way, can I see some of your more recent drawings?" He asked.

Aster blinked, why would Esper want to see his art? "Ah… I guess you could," he relented. Esper grinned, "Awesome! Thanks for stopping by to check on me though Aster, I appreciate it." Aster nodded dumbly. "Well, I need to go, but thanks for letting me keep the sketch book Aster!" Esper chirped. "Bye," Aster said, watching as the doe he had a crush on for so long turn and walk back home.

Was it possible that Esper liked him back? He wondered. He had seemed so excited to keep the book. Aster shook his head, there was no way Esper liked him. He hadn't been capable of making more friends after Esper and Amaya, never mind convince anyone to be romantically interested in him. No one, especially someone as amazing and perfect as Esper, would want to be his mate.


	11. Chapter 10

Esper frowned in concentration, careful hitting the ice sculpture with the chisel. His craft project was coming along well, hopefully the sculpting teacher and the magic teacher would be impressed with the piece.

He had carved the likeness of a small bird in flight, the sculpture carefully displaying the intricately carved wings and an unfinished body. He was currently working on the body, chiseling small details into the bird's breast.

It was a required project that covered both his Advanced Elements and Sculpting II class. It was a sort of precursor to the final project that would be due later in the year. Before he graduated it would be expected of him to somehow incorporate most of his classes into one final project that would be displayed to his graduating class and anyone who decided to come by the school.

Esper wasn't exactly sure what he was going to do, but he was pretty sure that he could make another ice sculpture, this one displaying two pooka in battle. He would carve symbols into the statue that would allow him to manipulate the ice pooka into moving in an intricate battle.

That would satisfy his Advance Elements, Ruins, Illusionary Magic III, and P.E requirements, however, he was stumped as for what to do for History of Pooka and Language Arts. He might be able to fit History in if he carved the fighters into someone important to the pooka, but he couldn't figure out anything for L.A. He could skip it, but a lot of point would be docked.

He sighed, shaking his head, he should focus on the project at hand, not one that wouldn't be assigned for another week or two. This one was due in a few days. He was nearly done, but he still had a lot of details to add on the body and on the legs.

Esper was so distracted that he didn't notice Aspen come up behind him until he spoke. "Are you working on an azure finch?" The young buck asked, peering over Esper's shoulder. Esper yelped, whirling around. "Geez Aspen, don't scare me like that!" He hissed, somewhat annoyed.

Aspen chuckled, "sorry Esper, didn't mean to scare you."

Esper huffed, "Yeah, it's supposed to be an azure finch, but it's not finished yet, I still have a lot of work to do." Aspen laughed, "I'm so glad I picking writing, it's not nearly as stressful as sculpting seems to be."

The white doe nodded, "yeah, I suppose it probably is. So what brings you here after school? I thought you and Amaya were doing something today?" Aspen shrugged, "we were supposed to work on a project together, but she never showed up."

Esper frowned, "that's not like Amaya. Maybe she got hung up on something." Aspen nodded, "yeah probably." They didn't say anything for a moment, neither finding anything to say.

"So, are you nearly done for today?" Aspen asked. Esper shrugged, "I could, I made a lot of progress earlier in class, so I could finish up if you want to do something." Aspen grinned, "Awesome!' Esper grinned and put down the chisel, carefully picking up his statue and bringing it back into the room. He opened a charmed cabinet that would keep it frozen until he could get to it tomorrow.

"I never got how you managed to keep that from melting while you worked on it," Aspen said, coming up behind him. "A lot of frost magic," Esper answered, turning to face the brown buck.

"So, what did you want to do?" He asked. "It's a surprise," Aspen said.

Esper raised a brow, "Oh? Will you at least tell me where we're going?" Aspen shook his head, "nope, you'll just have to wait." Esper gave a fake pout, "Aww, come on Aspen, pleeassee?"

The buck rolled his eyes, "Esp, just because you think that looks cute does not mean I'll do whatever you ask." "Crud, my plot's been discovered," he said, winking at his friend.

Aspen sighed, "what ever will I do with you?" Esper smirked, "love me." "That's it, I'm done with you, I try to be nice and you just sass me," Aspen said, turning to leave. Esper laughed, "Fine, fine, take me where you will." Aspen smirked, "alright, come with me."

He led Esper out of the building, taking him in the opposite direction of their burrows. The two didn't speak, choosing to just enjoy the scenery and each other's company. Eventually they reached the base of a nearby mountain range, the sheer cliffs reaching hundreds of feet above their heads. Aspen pulled him towards a curtain of ivy.

"Through here," he murmured, walking towards the ivy. He pulled it out of the way, revealing a small crack in the rock just large enough for a single. Esper looked at him, "Ladies first Aspen," he said, smirking and gesturing for Aspen to go through first.

Aspen rolled his eyes, "I think that you'd fall under the category of 'lady' more than I do Esper." Esper growled, "Shut up." He walked through the crack, pinning his ears to his head so they wouldn't snag on anything. Once he made it inside he looked around the cave, trying to figure out what was so special about it. The cave briefly fell into darkness as Aspen came through the crack after him.

"Come on, the surprise is this way," Aspen said, leading him towards a dark corner of the cave. Esper frowned and followed after his friend. To his surprise, there was a tunnel hidden in the shadows. They walked down the tunnel, their usually great night vision failing them in the near complete darkness.

After a minute or two of walking Esper's eyes picked up a faint glow at the end of the tunnel. A little more walking took them around a corner and into another cave, this one larger than the other and covered in bioluminescent moss. "Whoa," Esper breathed, walking past Aspen into the cave. The moss glowed with a soft, soothing, blue light that illuminated the entire room.

Aspen chuckled, "You look like you have blue fur." Esper looked down at his chest. His usually silvery white coat looked like it was glowing a light blue. "Huh, I do," he said, "This is really cool. How did you find this Aspen?" He asked, turning to his friend.

One of the buck's ears twitched in embarrassment, "I found it when we were thirteen. It's been my place to just kinda get away from everything since then." Esper was speechless, why would Aspen show him something like this? It was clear that it was very dear to him, it made no sense that he would show it to another person.

"Aspen…" He said, unable to find words. The buck came up behind him, pressing his front into Esper's back, causing the doe to blush. Before now he had never realized the changes that growing up had caused in Aspen.

The buck was nearly four inches taller than him, and he had the muscle to back up his height. Esper could feel the powerful muscles in Aspen's chest, their close proximity causing Esper's hormones to rise. Here was a strong buck, they were alone in a place that could very easily serve as nest, and he seemed to be interested in Esper. The doe shivered as he felt Aspen put a hand on his shoulder. "As…"

"Esper please listen to me," Aspen said, turning the doe around. Esper frowned, "what is it?" Aspen exhaled a shuttering breath, "I've been meaning to tell you for a while now, and if I don't tell you now, I'm never going to work up the nerve. Esper Harlow, I've loved you since we were kits. I've been waiting for years for us to reach adulthood before saying this, but will you please let me court you?"

Esper looked up at his old friend, shocked, "Holy shit, how do I respond to that?" He said, dumbstruck.

"You could say yes," Aspen suggested nervously. "I know, but Aspen, we're not adults yet, we won't until we leave school…"

"Which is in two months, we're twenty one, technically adults," Aspen pointed out, "Esper, I'm not asking you to mate with me immediately after we finish school, I just want a chance to have something more with you. Something more than just friendship. I asked Amaya for permission earlier, and she gave me her full blessing."

Esper laughed softly, "Aspen, I think the tradition is for you to ask my Dam, not my sister." Aspen rubbed his head nervously, "I know, but I wanted to ask the last of your blood relatives."

"Fair enough," Esper said, "look, Aspen…" The buck flinched, Esper was going to reject him, he knew it. "I honestly don't know what to think about this," Esper said, "Can I have a little bit of time to think about this? Please?"

Aspen nodded, relieved that Esper hadn't outright rejected him, he still had a chance, no matter how minute it was. "Sure," He said, smiling. Esper smiled gratefully, "thank you." Aspen turned to leave. "Also, Aspen, great place to ask." Aspen grinned and walked out of the cave. Esper sighed and slumped down into the moss.

The soft cushiony plants released a soothing scent that seemed to help clear Esper's mind. Did he really like Aspen like that? Yeah, he had a crush on the guy when they were kits, but they were adults now. He really liked Aspen, they were best friends for goodness sake, but he wasn't sure if he like Aspen as a mate. He could see himself spending the rest of his life with the buck, but he wasn't sure if he wanted to.

Esper exhaled, trying to picture himself with Aspen. He could see himself staying with him, living together and falling in love, but as soon as he tried to picture in a sexual relationship with Aspen it felt wrong somehow, as if he was betraying something.

Esper sighed, shaking his head. This whole situation was throwing him for a loop. He hadn't expected anyone to ask to mate him, at least not until he and Amaya revealed themselves to the galaxy. He had no idea what to do about this, he was pretty sure he didn't want to accept, but he really wasn't sure.

He needed to talk to someone about this. Someone that preferably wasn't his sister. Mind made up, he turned and ran out of the cave, blindly feeling his way back to the first cavern. Just as the dark began to unnerve him he reached the exit, squeezing out of the ivy covered crack. He darted back to his home, letting his paws guide him back to the familiar school house and then back to his family's burrow complex.

In his haste he nearly bowled over Snowdrop, the other white doe having been standing in front her litter's burrow.

"Hey watch it big brother!" She yelped, jumping back to avoid being run over. Esper skidded to a halt, chuckling nervously. "Sorry Snow," he said, leaning towards her and rubbing his cheek against hers affectionately. She huffed before rubbing back at him. "What's got you in such a rush big brother?" She asked, pulling back.

Esper coughed, embarrassed, "I need to talk to Dam," he said, avoiding his little sister's gaze. Snowdrop smirked, "Aspen asked to court you didn't he?" "How'd you know?" Esper asked, surprised. She laughed, "Big brother, I could tell that he liked you when I was four. Four years old Esper, it really wasn't that much of a surprise."

Esper sighed, "I guess not. Anyway, where's Dam?" "In her burrow. Da's gone to talk to Kale Bunnymund about something, so golden opportunity to talk to Dam about all things doe related." Esper chuckled, "thanks Snow," he said, turning and disappearing into his parent's burrow.

"Dam, where are you?" He called, walking into the sitting room. Lilliana came out of her nest room. "Yeah Esper, what's up?" She asked.

Esper bit his lip, "Uh Dam, you might want to sit down."

"You aren't pregnant are you?" Lilliana asked, panicked, "Esper, you are too young to get pregnant!" "I'm not pregnant Dam!" He yelled, his ears pinning back.

Lilliana sighed in relief, "Oh thank the gods, you haven't even mentioned a buck yet so I panicked. I thought you'd rushed into mating." Esper shook his head, "no, that's not what this is about."

Lilliana walked forward, examining her oldest son. "But it is about a buck isn't it?" She asked. Esper nodded, "yeah, it is." She sighed, "Of course it is. What happened?" Esper looked at her and then looked down at the floor.

"Aspen asked to court me," he muttered. His Dam's eyes widened, "Oh, Esper that's wonderful sweetie!" She exclaimed, engulfing her son in a hug. Esper hugged her back, pushing his face into her soft chest ruff and inhaling the warm, familiar scent of his Dam.

A moment later they broke apart, Lilliana keeping a grip on her son. "Did you say yes?" She asked, curious. Esper shook his head, "I told him that I'd think about it, this came out of nowhere, I'd never thought about Aspen and I together as mates."

Lilliana frowned, "what's stopping you from saying yes? Courting doesn't necessarily mean that you'll mate." Esper shrugged, "I don't know. I really do want to think about it, I'm just really not sure what I want to say."

The elder doe nodded, motioning for him to sit down on the couch. Esper sat down gratefully, his Dam sitting next to him. "I don't know what's stopping me. I like Aspen, I really do, but I'm not sure if I like him _that_ way. Like a mate I mean."

Lilliana nodded thoughtfully, "could you see yourself with him? Becoming his mate, sharing a burrow with him, eventually having kits with him?" Esper sighed, "I can see myself with him, but when I think about us in a, a sexual way it feels… wrong somehow."

"Is there another buck you're interested in? That might be it," Lilliana pointed out. Esper blushed and looked away, "Kind of. I-I might kinda have a small crush on Aster Bunnymund."

His Dam chuckled, "I really should have seen this coming. Do you know if Aster's interested in you?" Esper shook, "I really don't know, I haven't spoken to him since before he left for the military. I know that he liked me when I was fourteen, but it's been a long time since then."

Lilliana nodded, "Is this 'little' crush stopping you from courting Aspen? On another note, how long has this crush been going on?" Esper flushed, "Since I was thirteen. I don't know, I just can't stop thinking about him. We didn't talk much in the end, but I really miss him now that he's gone."

She smiled, her son was too cute, he had absolutely no idea that he had fallen in love with Aster. "Esper, this is going to be really embarrassing for you, but have you ever thought about Aster during your heat?" She asked gently. Esper frowned, "yeah, isn't that normal though?"

She giggled, "Sometimes. Let me guess. You're constantly caught up on thoughts of his barging into your nest, pinning you down and mating you until you can't think straight. Am I right?" "DAM!" He yelped, his ears pinning to the back of his head. She quirked and eyebrow, "Well?"

He bit his lip, looking away from her. "I-I can't stop thinking about him, I spend the entire heat thinking about him finding me and t-taking me and breeding me. I always end up Calling for him at least once before it's over," he said, refusing to meet her eyes.

She smiled softly, "That's why you don't want to court Aspen," she said, "both you and your instincts have chosen Aster, not him. Your instincts have decided that Aster is the better buck, so they want you to mate with him." Esper's eyes snapped to meet with hers, mouth agape.

She laughed, "You'll end up catching insects if you keep your mouth open like that Esper." His jaw snapped shut. "Did I really choose him?" Esper asked, baffled.

Lilliana smiled softly, "yep. I did the same thing when I met your Da. The first heat after I met him I couldn't stop imagining him with me, taking care of me. I called for him, just like you did, and I knew, that was the buck I wanted to spend the rest of my life with. My instincts agreed with me, I had seen how good Hawthorn was with kits and I was sold."

Esper shook his head, "but Aster's so grumpy all the time, why would my instincts choose him? He'd be so short-tempered with our kits." Lilliana smiled, "You really haven't seen him with kits before?" Esper shook his head.

The elder doe laughed, "Oh Espy he's amazing with kits, he may be harsh and gruff to everyone else, but as soon as he's with a kit he's the softest thing you've ever seen. He's a complete pushover when it comes to kits."

Esper blinked in surprise, "You've seen him with kits?" Lilliana nodded, "yep. His nieces and nephews to be exact."

Esper frowned, "did Rose have kits? I had heard she mated, but I didn't know that she had kits already." "Fawn, her mate, gave birth about eight months ago. I happened to stop by when they did and I saw Aster with them."

Esper was silent, processing the new information. He could feel the more primal part of his mind stirring at the thought of Aster. We've seen them fight before, his mind whispered, we've seen Aster beat Aspen soundly in both physical and magical combat. He is stronger, he can protect us better.

A memory of Aster and Aspen came unbidden to the forefront of his mind. He could see Aster easily defeating Aspen, his fighting skill clearly much higher than the others, never mind his disability.

"I-I think I made a decision Dam," he said. Lilliana smiled, "what would that be?" "I'm not going to court Aspen," Esper said, "It just doesn't feel right. I don't know if Aster likes me back, heck I don't even know if he's coming back, but I think I really like him Dam."

Lilliana smiled softly, "If that's what you want to do Esp, I'll support you the entire way." He smiled back, his expression somewhat bitter, "Yeah. I still feel horrible for rejecting Aspen though, we've been friends for so long I don't want to hurt him."

"Oh Esper, you've grown up to be such a fine pooka," Lilliana murmured, pulling her son into a hug, "I know that it will hurt, and Aspen may try to avoid you for a little while, but it may be the best thing to do. After all, it isn't fair to Aspen if you go after a relationship with him but you're not in it whole heartedly."

Esper nodded into his Dam's shoulder, tomorrow wouldn't be a good day, but it would be necessary.

The Next Day

Esper's foot twitched, from where he was sitting he could see Aspen's back, the buck sitting three rows in front of him. The wait was making him nervous. He hadn't seen him earlier in the day. Aspen had come in nearly late for first period, taking his seat in the back of the room after smiling at Esper.

That smile was making him feel so guilty, Aspen really did love him there was no doubt about that. Amaya frowned at him from across the room, easily able to see her twin's nervousness. Luckily for Esper, the bell soon rang, releasing them from their last period. He looked forward and locked eyes with Aspen, the handsome brown buck giving him a large smile.

Esper nodded his head towards the door, trying to signal that he needed to talk to him in private. He could see Aspen's beautiful hazel eyes light up, he thought that Esper was about to accept his courtship. Esper's hearts clenched painfully, he was about to hurt Aspen so badly.

He turned and walked out of the class, walking slow enough so that Aspen could follow him through the crowded hallway. Just as he reached the door Aspen caught up to him, holding the door open for him. Esper walked through the door, going towards somewhere they could be alone.

Aspen followed after him, the buck just barely brushing against his shoulder. Soon they reached a small break in the trees out of sight of the school. Esper turned to face the buck.

"Did you think about it?" Aspen asked. Esper nodded, "Yeah, I did." "And?" Aspen prompted, nervousness barely hidden in his tone. Esper sighed, "I'm sorry Aspen, I really like you, but only in a friendly way. I'm sorry but I'm saying no."

Aspen's eyes widened, his shoulders slumping sadly, "oh" He muttered. Esper winced, "I'm sorry Aspen, I really am I just…" Aspen held up a paw. "I-It's alright Esper, you don't need to keep apologizing. I just really thought you would've accepted." Esper flinched guiltily.

It was unusual for a doe to reject a buck's advances right off the bat, usually they at least let the buck try to win them. It helped that usually a buck didn't ask until they were fairly sure they would accept. "Are you interested in another buck? Is that why you're saying no?" Aspen asked. Esper could hear the heartbreak in his voice.

Esper sighed, "Yes I am. I might have said yes to you if I wasn't, but I really care for them." Aspen nodded sadly, "Alright. Thank you for at least thinking about it Esper. I'll see you tomorrow."

"Aspen…" Before Esper could complete his sentence the buck had left, sprinting away so that the doe couldn't see his tears. Esper felt tears prick at his eyes, quickly spilling over and down his cheeks. He didn't want to hurt his friend, but he needed to do this. Esper sobbed, running a paw over his ears guiltily. He really hoped that he hadn't rejected Aspen for nothing.


	12. Chapter 11

Esper picked up the basket resting by his feet, balancing it against his hip as he pulled the ripe forvirrad fruit from the plant's limbs.

The long red fruits were Aspen's favorite, but no one in Esper's family really enjoyed them. Esper had grown them as a favor for him; the tall plants had a place of honor in the garden. Aspen adored them, but his Dam was allergic to them so he couldn't grow them in their family garden.

He sighed and continued down the row. Things had been awkward between them for the past three months, but they had managed to remain friends, even if it was somewhat strained. Aspen had avoided him for a good week after he rejected him, even going as far as to arrive late to school. The teachers had scolded him several times, saying that graduation was coming up quickly, they needed to get going on their final projects. Aspen had apologized before going to work on his project.

Esper didn't know what Aspen was doing for his final project, but he did know that Amaya was doing some sort of complex illusion that would recreate a scene from one of her favorite books. She had been stressing over it for the past few weeks, apparently she was having trouble maintaining the complex illusion for the duration of the performance.

He had finished making the last few tweaks to his own project a few days ago, just in time for the showcase tomorrow. His sculptures were stored in a large refrigeration unit that he had charmed himself. He had hoped that Aster would come back from his tour in time to see his project, but according to Aster's dam he had elected to continue his service for another six months. When he had learned about that it had stung a bit, Aster knew that Esper was graduating that year, but he hadn't taken leave to visit him. It was fairly discouraging for the young doe.

A sudden loud thunk met his ears, drawing him out of his thoughts. He looked down, finally noticing his overly full basket. One of the forvirrad fruits had fallen from the overflowing basket, landing at his feet.

He shook his head and bent down to pick up the fruit, careful to keep his basket steady. HE placed the red fruit back into the basket and turned back around, walking back down the row. He exited the garden, walking past the barrier of trees and heading for his burrow.

"Hey Esper can you come here for a moment?" Lilliana yelled, coming out of her burrow. He turned to look at his Dam in surprise.

"Yeah, I'll be there in a minute Dam!" He yelled back, walking down the tunnel to his burrow. He walked through the sitting room to the hallway, opening the kitchen door and placing the basket on the table before turning and walking back into the hall. He made his way out of his home, walking towards his parents.

"Hey little brother!" Amaya said cheerfully, walking up to him. The elder sibling had grown to be almost six inches taller than her brother, several taller than most of the does in their year. Combined with the muscle from her almost religious sword practice and her dappled black and grey coat, the buck was rather intimidating.

Esper grinned, "Hey. Did Dam and Da call for you too?" Amaya nodded. "Yep, they probably want to give us the typical 'you're adults now, you have to be responsible, don't rush into mating, blah blah blah,' speech," she said.

"I don't know why they're asking for me then," Esper said, smirking. His sister scoffed, "Yeah, you're clearly the responsible one." Esper stuck his tongue out at her before disappearing down their parent's burrow.

The rest of their family was gathered in the sitting room, Snowdrop and her litter were sitting on a couch while their parents were seated on the love seat.

"Esper, Amaya, sit down please," Hawthorn said, looking up at his eldest kits. Esper raised a brow but did as he asked, sitting down on the second couch, Amaya sitting next to him.

"What's this about?" Amaya asked. "Your parents," Hawthorn answered. Esper frowned, "What about them?" He asked. Their Da sighed, "You two are twenty-one Esper, tomorrow you'll be considered adults. With your parents being who they were, one of you two will be the next monarch of Winter. So for lack of better words, you need to be tested to see which one of you it is."

The siblings nodded, they had figured that something like this would be necessary since they had been told who their parents were. "Does that mean that you told them?" Amaya asked, gesturing to the younger littler.

Willow grinned, "Yep! We found out last week. Personally, I think that it's really cool that we'll know a monarch." The older pooka chuckled. "Fair enough," Esper said, grinning.

"So how do we get 'tested' exactly?" Amaya asked, looking toward her parents. Hawthorn shrugged, "I honestly have no idea. However, a week ago we were sent a letter from the Spring King to send you to the Home World once you had graduated." The twins looked at each other nervously.

"How long are we going to be gone?" Esper asked.

"At least a year," Lilliana said, smiling sadly. Esper sat back, trying to process that. They had never left Terra or been away from their family for more than a day. The longest Esper had been away from his parents was once when he had accidentally fallen asleep at the Lake and stayed the night there curled up on the banks.

A vaguely annoyed Aster had woken him up the next day, berating him for being so careless with his health. That particular incident had embarrassed him for months; he had refused to meet Aster's eyes for weeks afterward.

Amaya sighed, "When will we leave?" She asked, frowning. "In two days," their Dam answered. "They sure don't waste time do they?" Esper muttered.

"Hey, it's alright big brother!" Snowdrop said, "Even if you get picked, we'll come and visit! Someone will have to stop you from wrecking Winter after all!" "I hate you Snow, you're absolutely horrible," Esper said, glaring at his youngest sibling. "You don't really mean that Big Brother~," the younger doe sang.

Esper huffed, "Sure I do," he muttered, crosseding his arms and pointedly ignoring his sister. The rest of the family rolled their eyes, used to the two sibling's playful banter.

Hawthorn cleared his throat, "Anyway, you two should probably say your goodbyes tomorrow, you won't be seeing your friends for a while."

They nodded solemnly, the grave nature of the words not lost on them. Whichever one of them became the next monarch would not be able to return to Terra for a very long time, possibly never. They would likely never see their friends again, only seeing their parents and siblings once every few decades, possibly even centuries. Most of the contact they would have with their past lives would be letters that would be few and far between, the sheer distance between the two planets being a communication block.

Terra, unlike many other planets, was a fledgling colony, missing more advanced technology found on other systems. As far as they knew, only Kale and Cala Bunnymund owned a video transmitter, and even that was mostly only used for emergencies.

There was a reason that clans didn't move often, the move between worlds often stretched even the tightest of family relations. Usually it was only newly mated pairs with a more adventurous streak moved to new planets. It was hard of members of clans to be separated from one another for a long period of time, after all, clans and family were the main aspects of a pooka's life, from birth to death.

In a secluded clan generations of family members would live close together, all of the adults helping raise the clan's kits and taking care of extensive gardens and burrows. In the case of oldest clans it wasn't odd for the entire family to live underground in extensive warrens, having little to no contact to the outside world. The only time outsiders would be allowed into the warrens would be if one of them had met and mated someone on their tour of duty. Otherwise the clan mated within itself, the sheer number of diverse family lines preventing inbreeding.

Esper himself had always fantasized about being part of one of those clans, the lifestyle had always appealed to him since they had been taught about it in school in their first year.

He hoped that whoever he ended up mating with, preferably Aster, wouldn't mind setting up a clan with him. Yes, it would mean that he would have to have a boatload of kits, but honestly he didn't mind, he had always adored kits, even more than the normal love for kits that his nature had.

His Dam had apparently been part of one of those clans, having met his Da during one of her frequent trips to the surface of her birth world. The clan life had never appealed to either of them, so instead of Hawthorn joining the clan they had left for Terra. She had told stories of her many siblings and cousins since they were young.

He had always listened with rapt attention, mentally comparing the image present with his own life. He loves his parents, there was no doubt of that, but being surrounded by family like that had always seemed like an amazing life to him.

It had been his dream for years to be a member of a clan, if he mated into one or created his own it wouldn't matter to him, he just wanted to be a part of one.

However, if he was named Queen, that dream would be torn from him. A monarch's duty was to their season first, then to their family. He would be too busy with ruling to have more than a few litters if that. Monarchs usually had very few kits, their duty preventing them from being truly able to give their offspring the attention they needed.

"Esper, we should probably leave, it'll get dark soon and we need sleep for tomorrow," Amaya said, nudging her brother. Esper snapped out of his thoughts. "Yeah, alright," he said, standing.

The twins said goodbye and walked out of the burrow, silence passing between them. As soon as they reached the surface they broke apart, heading for their respective burrows.

Esper fell to all fours, hopping down the tunnel to his home. He went down the hall and into the kitchen. He stood up and grabbed the basket of fruit from the table. Esper turned and exited the room, walking about out of his sitting room and back to the surface. He set out for Aspen's burrow, intent on bring the fruit to him before tomorrow. After all, if he forgot about it than it would probably rot, forgotten in his kitchen.

Well, maybe not. He'd ask either his parents or his siblings to look after his burrow while he was gone. Snowdrop would probably be the best option.

His burrow was built with the intent of housing an unmated doe, the nest room as far away from the open air as possible so that their heat scent wouldn't attract passerby bucks. That way if he didn't come back his only doe sibling could have it.

After all, she was fourteen now, she'd get her first heat soon and didn't have her own burrow yet. Her litter had gotten their own burrow on their eighth birthday, as was tradition for kits, but she hadn't moved for some reason.

"Esper, what are you doing here?" Aspen asked, coming out of his burrow. Esper looked up in surprise. He had gotten lost in thought again.

He grinned, holding up the forvirrad fruits. "I picked these from the garden earlier, I thought that you might like them," he explained. Aspen smiled, "Thanks Esp." The buck stepped forward, taking the heavy basket from his arms.

"Do you want to come in?" He asked, indicating to his burrow. Esper had to resist biting his lip at the invitation. Aspen was still interested in him; an unmated buck did not invite an unmated doe into their burrow unless they wanted to show off.

"I'm good Aspen," he said, smiling awkwardly, "but there's something I need to tell you." Aspen cocked his head to the side in surprise. "Alright, let me go put these down," he said. Esper nodded and Aspen disappeared down his burrow.

A few moments later he reappeared. "Alright, what's up?" He asked. Esper sighed, "I'm leaving," he announced. Aspen's eyes widened, "What? Why?" He asked.

Esper fidgeted, "I-I'm not sure if I'm technically allowed to tell you, but you're my best friend and you deserve to know. Do you remember the first conversation we had?" He asked. Aspen frowned and nodded, "Yeah, we talked about the monarchs and the disappearance of the Winter pair, why?"

Esper let out a long breath, "the Winter pair were mine and Amaya's parents." Aspen's eyes widened, "You're from the line of Winter?!" He exclaimed. "Not so loud!" Esper hissed.

Aspen rubbed his head sheepishly, "sorry." Esper rolled his eyes. "Does that mean that you're…"

He shrugged, "Don't know, that's why I'm going. We're going to find out which of us it is, and we'll be gone for at least a year. I just wanted to tell you, because if it's me I probably won't see you again."

Aspen nodded sadly, "When do you leave?" "In two days." The buck sighed, "So soon…" Esper nodded, "I just found out myself."

"All right. Esper, I know we'll see each other tomorrow, but I need to say this now. If it does turn out to be you, can you promise me, that you won't forget me?"

Esper began to tear up. "Aspen, you're my best friend. Even if I live to be a million years old I'll never forget you. I swear I treasured every moment I spent with you. I might not care for you the way you want me too, but I love you as the closest friend I've ever had."

Aspen smiled sadly, "I can live with that. Goodbye Esper." The tan buck turned and walked into his burrow, Esper's eyes following after him sadly.

He turned and left, heading for his own burrow. Tomorrow was a big day, he would need his rest.


	13. Chapter 12

Esper shifted nervously as he looked down the row of graduates with their projects. His own was behind him, the ice sculptures hidden under a cloth that was painted with ruins to keep it from melting. The judges were currently three projects down from his, looking over the painting of a nervous tawny doe. He sighed and looked down the other end of the row.

Aspen caught his eye and the buck smiled at him. Esper have a nervous smile in return and returned his attention to the judges who had moved down the row towards him, only one project between them and him. Esper's claws itched in their sheaths, his nervousness causing the sharp tips to peek out from his fingers. He began to bounce up on the balls of his feet as the judges moved on to the project next to his.

In his stress over his project he hadn't paid attention to the other's project, but he could hear soothing music coming from the buck's project. He sucked in a breath as the judges moved to his project.

"What's your name?" The leader of the three asked, looking at Esper.

"Esper Harlow," he said. The judges nodded. Esper turned and grabbed the cloth covering his project, pulling it off. Two life size ice sculptures of pookan warriors stood proudly, swords strapped to their waists. The judges raised an eyebrow at the impressively lifelike sculptures.

He grinned nervously and pressed his paw to the chests of the sculptures, pouring his magic into them. For a moment they began to glow before they slowly began to move. Esper muttered a spell under his breath, covering the ice with an illusion of fur and flesh.

The two ice pooka drew their swords and attacked each other, the ice cracking together with a loud bang. The sculptures went through a small battle sequence before one of them managed to stab the other through the chest, cracking the loser and causing him to shatter.

"Impressive," one of the judges muttered, "please explain how this meets the requirements."

Esper let out a breath and launched into his practiced explanation. "My classes are Ruins, Elemental Magic, Sculpture, Pookan History, Gym, Advanced Illusions and Language Arts. The requirements for Sculpture and Elemental Magic are met through the statues themselves. I created the ice and then carved it into the shapes necessary. A complex sequence of Ruins that I dyed into the cloth covering kept the ice from melting. The History and LA requirements are met by the likeness that I carved the statues into. The remaining statue is Blodyn Bellis while the broken one was Vasilis of Summer. They were both major players in the Summer rebellion approximately twenty thousand years ago. They are also featured in the book 'A Lovers Tale' that we read in class last year. Once I carved the statues I charmed them to go through a basic sequence of moves that we learned two years ago. Finally I cast an illusion over the sculptures to make them appear as if they were alive."

The judges turned to speak to each other, whispering so that Esper couldn't hear what they said. The doe shifted nervously, anxious to hear his score. After several minutes of debate the judges turned to him once again.

"Congratulations, your score is a nine hundred and forty five out of a thousand," the lead judge said. Esper sighed in relief before bowing to the judges. They nodded and moved onto the next project. Esper looked around for the first time, looking for his family.

A moment later he spotted them a little ways away waving at him. His parents were trying to stop the younger litter from running into the judging area while Amaya stood there and laughed. He grinned and went towards them. As soon as he got over to them his Dam swept him up into a hug, chinning him madly.

"Dam let go of me! I'm not a kit anymore you know!" He said, halfheartedly trying to push away from Lilliana.

"You'll always be a kit to me~," she sang, finally allowing Esper to escape. He stuck his tongue out at her before turning to Amaya.

"So what'd you get?" he asked.

She smirked, "nine hundred and sixty eight, you?" Esper pouted, "You beat me, I got nine hundred forty five."

"Both of you did very well," Hawthorn said, moving to embrace Esper. The white doe smiled and hugged his Da back, laughing as the ginger buck chinned him just as his Dam did.

"Da let go of him, I want to hug Big Brother!" Snowdrop complained. Hawthorn chuckled and pulled back, allowing the younger kit to tackle her brother in a hug. Esper wrapped his arms around Snow, leaning over to rest his chin on her head. She let out a small hiccup and pressed herself into his chest ruff. Esper blinked in surprise as he felt her begin to cry into his torso.

"Please don't leave Big Brother!" She whispered, her voice breaking. Esper smiled sadly, "I'm sorry Snow, but I have to. I promise I'll be back before you know it." Snowdrop nodded jerkily before falling silent.

Esper looked up to see Rosalie and Willow trying not to cry as well. He opened his arms and they ran into his arms. He smiled as he embraced his little siblings, letting them take comfort in his scent. A moment later they reluctantly pulled back, leaving Esper with a small damp patch where Snowdrop had pressed her face.

"Alright, now that we've all hugged Esper to oblivion maybe we should go find Aspen yeah?" Amaya said.

"You haven't hugged him," Rosalie pointed out. "Yeah but I don't want to hug Esper," she retorted.

Esper pouted, "I feel unloved Amaya," he said. She huffed in annoyance, "Fine." He grinned and went to hug his sister, nuzzling her affectionately on the cheek. She rolled her eyes and nuzzled him back, pulling away from the embrace a moment later.

"Hey Esper, Amaya!" Aspen yelled from the judging area, smiling widely. "Well there's Aspen," Esper said. The twins dropped to all fours and ran over to their friend. Aspen grinned as he saw them coming towards him.

The twins exchanged a look before smirking and picking up speed. Aspen's eyes widened as they barreled straight towards him. They crashed full force into him, knocking him to the ground in a pile of grey, white, and tan fur.

"What the heck you two!" Aspen yelled, pushing at them as they laid on him in a tangle of limbs. Esper guffawed and stood up, shaking himself off. Amaya pulled Aspen up as she stood, smirking at his annoyed expression.

"Well that was fun wasn't it?" Esper chirped, smirking at Aspen. "Very," he said drily. "What did you two psychos get?" he asked.

"I got a nine hundred sixty sight, Esper got a nine hundred and forty five," Amaya said. Aspen nodded, "Alright, I'm right in between you two. I got a nine hundred fifty three." The three friends fell silent for a minute, none of them really knowing what to say.

Tomorrow the twins would be leaving and one them wouldn't return. Ever. It was a hard pill for the three friends to swallow.

"So Amaya, when are you going to do your tour of duty?" Aspen asked, finally breaking the silence.

The female buck hesitated before answering. "I don't know. If it turns out that I'm K- you know what, then I won't have to, but if I'm not I think I'll do it after we get Esper crowned. That way I don't leave this idiot on his own," She explained.

"No one has any faith in me do they?" "Nope," the two bucks said.

"…I hate both of you and I hope you get eaten by a razorback," Esper hissed, mock glaring at them. "You first," Amaya shot back. Esper flipped her off.

Aspen chuckled in amusement, "I'm really going to miss watching you two argue," he said. "Well we sure won't miss your ugly mug," Amaya said, winking at him. Aspen rolled his eyes at her.

"I can't believe that we're adults now," Esper muttered. Aspen hummed, "it is pretty hard to believe. It seems like just yesterday we were wrestling at the Lake and getting sand in our pelts."

"It had to happen eventually," Amaya pointed out. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean that it feels real," Esper said.

Amaya shrugged, "Fair enough. Dam is trying to get our attention, we should probably go," she said, pointing to the waving Lilliana. Aspen nodded, "Alright. Remember to write once you get to the Home World, I want to know what's going on at home."

The twins nodded before turning and walking back to their family, leaving Aspen behind. "You should go pack anything you want to bring with you," Lilliana said as they walked up the family. "Alright," Amaya said. With that the family turned and made their way back to the burrow complex.

They traveled in silence before Esper spoke up. "Hey Snowdrop, can I ask a favor of you?" He asked, looking at his youngest sister. "Yeah, what do you need?" She asked curiously.

"Will you take care of my burrow while I'm gone? You can use it as your burrow until I get back," he said. Snowdrop nodded, "alright. But what if you don't come back?"

"Then Da and Dam don't have to dig another burrow for you." Snowdrop nodded sadly. The family remained silent for the rest of their trip. Once they arrived that their burrows they split up and went into their own homes.

Esper sighed as he walked into his sitting room. He would miss this place so much while he was gone. He looked around the room, looking for anything that stuck out as important to him. He walked over to one of his bookshelves and pulled out two of his favorite books.

He didn't see anything else too important so he turned and walked into the hallway. Esper went into his nest room, the books under his arm. He immediately grabbed the sketchbook Aster gave him before looking around at the shelves of his room. He went and picked his staff up from where it was perched against the wall and placed it beside the table. The last thing he picked up was a journal that Willow had given him for his birthday that year.

He put the objects on his nightstand before pulling open one of the drawers. He pulled out a folded jacket.

The pooka very rarely wore clothes, the most they ever wore at a time was a formal jacket, bracers, and foot wraps. Military wore the bracers and foot wraps constantly, but jackets were only worn on very formal occasions such as funerals or court appearances.

In his opinion if there was ever an occasion to wear a jacket, it would be now.

Every pooka was given a jacket on their twenty first birthday, he was no exception. His was a pale blue with winding vines made of the hide of some sort of animal from some far off planet. Hawthorn had burned ancient ruins into the inside to help protect both Esper and the jacket.

He placed the jacket over the other objects before turning and laying down in his nest to get some shut eye.

* * *

><p>Esper nearly gasped as he saw the huge spaceship resting on the landing strip. The sleek, oval metal craft was pointed at the rear and nose clearly built with speed in mind. Though with the lack of gas in space there couldn't be any air resistance to cut through. Beside him, Amaya whistled in appreciation at the craft.<p>

"Dang, that's a nice ship right there," she said.

"Thank you for the compliment," the captain of the ship said, coming over to the twins. "My name's Tamara and I'm the captain of this beaut right here," she introduced.

"Nice to meet you," Amaya said. The captain nodded, "Likewise. We should get going, Home World's a long way off. I have to ask you though, would you rather pass the time in cryosleep or awake?"

The twins exchanged a look. "I think I'd rather go through cryosleep," Esper replied. "Same," Amaya said. Tamara nodded, "Alright, follow me please." She turned and walked towards the ship. The siblings followed after her, Esper taking the opportunity to discretely examine the captain's scent.

She smelt of water and what he could only describe as nothingness, indicating that she spent a lot of time flying through space. He was vaguely surprised to realize that Tamara was a doe. Though it was fairly common for does that went into the military to become pilots she had a rather large frame for a Doe, throwing him off.

As they reached the ship a sharp hiss came from a portion of the hull and ramp descended. The captain led them up the ramp and into the hull. Though he had seen pictures of the inside of interstellar ships before Esper couldn't help but look around.

Various bits of metal and wire came from the sides, meeting in a confusing tangle of metal. He shook his head before following Tamara further into the ship. They went past a door way and emerged in a room with boxes of metal lining the sides of the hull.

"I'll take your bags if you don't mind," Tamara said, gesturing for the twin's belongings. They handed her the bags and Esper gave her his staff. "Alright, go pick a tank, it doesn't matter which one you pick, 'cause no one else is coming onboard besides me and the copilot," she explained. The twins nodded and walked to two tanks lined up end to end.

Tamara went to Esper first, punching in a sequence of commands on the control panel before the lid of the tank opened, rising up to reveal a padded interior. "Get in and I'll start the process," the captain said.

Esper exhaled and climbed into the box, closing his eyes. He could hear several buttons being pressed and the lid closing on top of him. The final thing he heard was the hiss of gas as he was knocked out.

* * *

><p>"Time to wake up!" Amaya's chipper voice said. Esper groaned and opened his eyes slowly.<p>

"Are we there?" He asked, sitting up. His muscles were a bit sore, but besides that the cryosleep seemed to not have an effect on his body.

Amaya nodded, "Yep, we need to get going, the seasonal monarchs are outside the ship waiting for us." Esper gulped, "I don't suppose I can get five more minutes?" He asked hopefully. Amaya snorted, "No, you can't. Now come on you lazy butt, people to see, places to go."

Esper sighed, "Fine." He climbed out of the box, stretching his aching body.

Once he had finished stretching, Amaya turned and walked back towards the exit ramp. Esper adjusted his jacket before following after her. The ramp was already lowered as they reached the exit, allowing them to leave the ship.

The twins winced slightly at the bright sunlight as they descended.

Esper's breath caught just a little as he caught sight of six pooka dressed in incredibly fancy clothing flanked by armored guards on either side. One of the six stepped forward. Esper recognized him as King Valerian of Spring. As the siblings reached the end of the ramp he spoke.

"Welcome to Home World Esper, Amaya, we've been waiting for you."


	14. Chapter 13

Hi! first off, I'm so sorry this is a day late, I got home yesterday and immediately fell asleep, so I forgot all about this! Forgive me!

Also, before anyone gets confused I want to make something clear. Some of you might have clued in on this, but a monarch being called a king or a queen had nothing to do with their gender. A pooka Queen is a ruler that is a doe while a King is a buck.

* * *

><p>Esper froze.<p>

Amaya frowned at him and discretely nudged him. "It's an honor to be here sir," she said, offering a small bow to the king. Esper bowed as well, unable to make out words.

King Valerian chuckled, "There's no need for that, after all one of you will end up being my equal. But please, let me introduce you to my companions. This lovely doe here is my mate Queen Rihana of Spring. The pair there are King Sorrel and Queen Savyon of Autumn. Finally there is Queen Trillium and King Ilex of Summer," he said, motioning to each pooka as he said their names.

Truly it was merely a formality, they had been taught the names and appearances of all the reigning monarchs and their predecessors in school.

"It's an honor to meet you," Esper stuttered, finally finding his voice.

"It is an honor to meet you two as well, it is a great relief to us that there is finally someone to take the throne of Winter," Queen Savyon said, "but I have to ask, have either of you taken a mate?"

They both shook their heads.

"Very well, we should get you two settled in the castle. I'm sure both of you would like the opportunity to get settled before we start testing."

"That would be greatly appreciated, thank you," Amaya said. The Autumn Queen nodded and gestured for them to follow him, turning and walking down a stone path to a large set of doors guarded on either side by armed guards. The monarchs led the twins towards the doors, allowing them to get a view of the city.

Esper could see elegant archways connecting various stone buildings, pooka of all seasons walking along the paths going about their daily business. Trees lines the paths, giving a hint of the greenery the pooka thrived on. On top of the buildings he could see large gardens, some of the gardens decorative, some with edible plants, and some with both. The scent of many pooka and spices filled the air, much more pleasant than he had thought a city would again, this was a pookan city, not a Lunarian or Draconian one, so it was bound to be much cleaner.

Esper's attention was drawn back to the path as the armed guards banged their metal staffs against the ground twice in perfect synchronization. The doors slid open, allowing the monarchs to pass beneath the nearly twenty foot archway. They were led into a hallway. There was a green rug running through the center of the arched hall while decorated columns supported either side of the hall.

"This is the Spring wing, each wing of the castle is designated to a season. If you ever manage to get lost follow these carpets, the castle had a square layout so as long as you stay in the main hall you won't find yourself in some abandoned room where no one will find you. The wings flow in the order of the seasons, so down that way is the Summer wing while the other leads to the Winter one. That's where we're headed," King Sorrel explained.

The twins nodded, taking note of her advice. They followed the elder pooka down the hall that Sorrel had said was the Winter Wing, passing many doors and random pooka milling around the hall. All of the pooka they passed bowed to the passing monarchs, their gazes landing on Esper and Amaya curiously. Esper flushed and avoided their gazes, staring straight forward.

After about five minutes of walking they reached a doorway inscribed with the words 'Here lies the Court of Winter'. Guards pushed open the doors for them, letting the eight pooka into the much quieter Winter wing. "Since your parents died their court was dismissed so only servants come into this wing anymore," King Valerian explained, "Your rooms will be in the center of the wing which, unfortunately, means more walking."

Esper could hear Queen Rihana chuckle at her mate.

"Guards will be posted outside your rooms and the kitchens will be staffed, so if you need anything ask the guards and they will summon a servant," he continued. Esper shifted uncomfortably at the idea of having servants. He knew that the servants were paid very well and were given room and board for their services, but it still seemed wrong to him.

Soon they reached two sets of intricately carved doors on opposite sides of the ice blue carpet.

"These are the rooms for the monarchs and the first heirs. You can pick which ever you want," Queen Trillium said.

The twins nodded, turning to each other. "I'll take that one," Esper said, gesturing to the door to their right.

"Alright," Amaya said.

"You're free to explore your rooms and the castle, though I would suggest asking someone to give you a tour so that you don't get lost," King Valerian said, "your belongings will be returned to you in a few minutes."

he twins thanked him and the others before opening their respective doors.

Esper gasped as the door closed behind him. Unlike the halls the rooms were inlaid with wooden finishings, making them much more homey. The floors were a orange tinted wood while the walls were more pinkish. A band of intricately carved snowflakes wrapped around the hall leading to a main room. He walked towards the room, curious as to what the rest of the rooms looked like.

The first room was clearly a sitting room, one large couch faced away from him while its twin stood opposite it. Two chairs sat in between the two, forming a rectangle. Esper bit his lip and went over to one of the chairs, sitting down in it. The chair was comfortable padded, it was soft but hard enough to provide support.

Grinning, he stood up and looked around some more. A stone wood burning fireplace stood front and center, a set of tools for tending to the fire beside it. Two bookshelves stood beside the fireplace, mostly empty except for a few classics. There were two pair of doors off either side of the room, drawing his curiosity.

Esper walked towards one of the sets of doors, undoing a hatch and pushing the doors open. Sunlight suddenly filled the room, the light from the twin suns much brighter than the luminosity of the flowers growing as light sources. Esper stepped out onto a balcony, curious.

A metal railing stood at the edge of the stone balcony, separating him from the edge. If he looked down the balcony he could see the other set of double doors. Curiosity satisfied he went back inside, refastening the lock.

Esper made his way to another door, walking inside the other room. Here he could see more seats and bookshelves surrounding a large, comfortable looking nest. Esper walked forwards, walking into the nest. The nest was incredibly soft to his feet. Esper flopped down into the nest, laughing as he bounced back up and inch or two. He simply laid there for a moment, taking in the scenery.

His thoughts slowly turned to his family back home. The little ones would be about a month into the new year. Rosalie was undoubtedly already complaining about her math classes while Snowdrop was chirping about finally learning how to fight with weapons. He smiled sadly, he already missed them even though it felt like he had only been gone for a few hours.

Suddenly Esper heard a sharp knock on the front door. He got up and exited the nest room, walking to the front door and opening it. A tall male winter doe stood before him, Esper's bag and staff held out to him.

"Oh, thank you," he said, taking the items from him.

The servant nodded, "Is there anything I can get you sir?" he asked.

Esper blinked, surprised. "Actually, could you tell me if there's a library somewhere around here?" Esper asked. The gray servant nodded and pointed down the hall. "The second door to your right there will lead you to a hall that will empty into the main library," he explained.

Esper smiled, "Thank you very much," he said, turning and closing the door.

He made his way back to the nest room to put his belongings down. He took a look around the room as he entered it, trying to decide where to put everything. His mind made up Esper walked over to the bookshelf closest to the nest first. Reaching into the bag he was surprised to feel a smaller bag containing something small and hard within the bag.

Curious, he pulled the small pouch out to examine it. It was a small black drawstring bag stuffed full of something hard and pointy. Esper opened the bag, his eyes widening in surprise as he saw what was contained within. The sack was filled with galactic credits, presumably for him to spend at the markets. He smiled, his Dam must have slipped these into his bag while he wasn't looking.

Next he pulled out the books he had brought with him. He placed them on an empty shelf before turning back to the nest. Esper placed Aster's sketchbook down on the dark nightstand along with his journal. The staff was propped up against the nearest wall, just within arm's reach. Satisfied, he took off his jacket and folded it neatly, placing it on the bedside table. Yawning softly Esper dropped into the nest, tired from the journey even though he'd slept through most of it. He closed his eyes, allowing his body to relax as he slowly fell asleep.

Several hours later Esper slowly awakened, his mind fuzzy from the peaceful rest. Ignoring the tempting warmth of the nest he stood up, giving his coat a once over before grabbing his jacket from the table and walking out into the sitting room. He slipped on the jacket before going into the hall and opening the front door.

Esper nearly yelped in surprise as he caught sight of two heavily armed guards outside his room. The taller guard, a buck by the smell of him, stood facing him next to Amaya's door while the shorter, a doe, stood outside his door. Esper closed the door behind him nervously, looking between the two guards.

When neither tried to stop him he turned and walked towards the door the servant had said would lead to a library.

The door protested a bit as he tried to pull it open, but the unused hinges eventually moved.

Esper grinned victoriously and walked down the illuminated hallway. He could see a door at the end of the tunnel, presumably the entrance to library. He grinned and sped up, reaching the door after nearly a minute of walking. Excitedly he opened the library door, drinking in the sight before him.

The library was two stories tall, a reading area on the second floor balcony overlooking the towering shelves. Esper immediately aimed for the stairs leading down to the first floor, eager to reach the shelves.

The Citadel was well known for containing vast wells of knowledge of every imaginable subject. Esper had been looking forward to getting access to the library ever since he learned that he could be coming here. Even better, he would be here for nearly a year, there would be time for him to learn about almost anything he wanted. At the moment however, his goal was to find texts on illusion magic.

At home he had devoured every text he possibly could, mastering everything contained in those books. Now that he had so much more to learn from, not to mention anything he could find at the many bookstores around the city.

Several pooka obviously from noble families gave him odd looks as he passed, not recognizing the outsider.

Esper paid them no mind, his attention focused solely on the labels on the shelves. He grinned happily as he found the section labeled as Illusion magic. Esper turned into the row, scanning the shelves for a promising title. He saw one or two books he himself owned before a particular volume caught his attention.

"A guide from beginning to mastering illusions, that sounds promising," he muttered. Esper tipped the thickly bound book back, pulling it off the shelf. He flipped through the text, grinning widely as he skimmed through the promising contents. Satisfied, he tucked the book under his arm and began his search for another section.

The fighting coach at home had known very little about staffs with a crook, he was hoping to find a book on katas or skills he could work on in addition to his magical studies. "A proper pooka never stops learning as Da always says," Esper whispered. A moment later he saw the section on weapons combat at the other end of the library.

Grinning excitedly Esper made his way over to the section, his focus blinding him to the world around him. Esper let out a small yelp of surprise as he collided with someone who had been standing in front of him. He stumbled back in surprise, beginning to fall over.

The pooka he had crashed into turned around, grabbing his paw and hulling him up. Esper gasped as he saw his savior.

"Aster is that you?" he said, amazed to see the buck here of all places.

"Esper? What are you doing here?" Aster asked, his surprise evident in his voice.

"I could ask you the same thing," the doe said, a little dazed at quite literally running into his crush.

Aster quirked a brow, "I'm here on tour, I got assigned to be a city guard. Your turn."

Esper twitched nervously, "Um, well, I'm here to get, uh, tested is the word they used, to see if I inherited the Winter crown," he explained, stuttering.

Aster gaped at him, "You're the possible Winter monarch the city's been buzzing about for the past two months?" He asked incredulously.

"Amaya too," Esper said, looking up at the buck. Aster stared at him in surprise, his mouth falling open. Esper laughed, "close your mouth or you'll catch insects," he teased, "no need to be so surprised, I'm still just me!"

Aster snapped his jaw shut, his teeth closing with an audible click.

"Oh yeah, Aster I don't really mind, put why do you still have my arm?" Esper asked, waving the arm in question, Aster's paw still attached to his wrist. The buck tore his arm away, his ears flattening against his neck in embarrassment.

A shit eating smirk plastered itself over Esper's muzzle, his hearts fluttering a little at the cute sight of a flustered Aster. "I, uh, sorry about that," Aster said, his muzzle flushing a darker pink.

Esper winked, "No problems here. Thanks for saving me from falling by the way." Aster nodded, his ears lifting somewhat.

"No problem, what were you in such a rush to get to anyway?" he asked. "I was trying to get to the combat section," he explained, gesturing to the section over Aster's shoulder. The buck looked over at the section.

"What are you looking for exactly? I've been in here a lot, I might know where it is," he offered.

Esper smiled at him, "Thanks Aster! I was looking for techniques using a staff with a crook," he explained. Aster nodded, "Yeah, I know where that should be, follow me." Esper followed after the blue grey buck as he led him to the section.

He took a moment to admire Aster's physique from behind. Aster had always been lean, but the military training had helped him bulk out some, finally filling out some of Aster's height. He had always been tall, but now he didn't look like a reed. The buck had wide, strong shoulders with equally strong arms. Esper bit his lip. They would feel amazing forcing Esper down into his nest as Aster hunched over him, ready to press into the willing doe at any moment.

Esper shook himself from his thoughts, desperately trying to curb his arousal and take his mind of Aster before it managed to find its way into his scent.

Despite his best intentions, his gaze fell lower, looking over Aster's lower half. He had narrow, agile hips that led to long, strong looking legs. Esper shivered, adulthood had really treated Aster well. He could still see the slight limp from their kithood, but it was much less pronounced than before.

"sper? Esper?" Esper's attention snapped back to Aster who had apparently been trying to get his attention.

"Sorry Aster, got a little lost in thought," he said, rubbing his head sheepishly.

Aster rolled his eyes, exasperated, "Yeah well, pay a bit more attention will ya?"

Esper stuck his tongue out at him, "Nope!." "Stick that back in your head or I might do something with that little tongue of yours," Aster said, smirking.

Esper grinned, "Oh, what are you going to do to little old me?" he teased. A predatory smile spread over Aster's muzzle, "Something I will very much enjoy." Esper laughed, "Cryptic much? Anyway, thanks for the help Aster, it was nice to see you again. Hopefully I'll see you around soon." The doe winked, plucking a good looking book off the shelf and walking away, heading back towards his rooms.

Aster watched him go, his eyes on Esper's hips as they moved back and forth, a fluffy white little tail obscuring the doe's pink, tight little entrance. Aster let out a small growl before turning and walking as fast as he possibly could out of the library. He nearly ran down the winding halls of the palace to get to the guard quarters.

He ignored several of his squad mates' greetings in favor of getting into his private nest room as quickly as possible. He locked the door and sunk into his nest, his thoughts immediately flying back to the little doe back at the library.

If he hadn't known better he could have believed that Esper might have been flirting with him. But that was impossible, Esper already had Aspen. The entire colony knew that Aspen was going to ask Esper to court as soon as they reached adulthood.

Aster snarled and turned his thoughts back to Esper.

He shivered as he recalled that flexible little tongue Esper had darting out at him. Somewhat guility he imagined Esper here in his nest, the doe grinning at him before opening his mouth and going down on the buck. Aster hissed and began to stroke his sheath as he imagined Esper. In his fantasy Esper licked and mouthed at his member until it fell out of his sheath, the tick dusky pink length fully on display for the white doe.

He imagined Esper inhaling once before taking Aster into his hot mouth, sucking and swallowing around Aster's dick as it went down his throat. Aster growled and began to pump himself in time with the fantasy Esper's licks.

He felt Esper swallow down the last of his length, his pink nose touching into Aster's lower stomach. Esper looked up at him with lust filled brilliant blue eyes, sucking and licking him all the while. He heard Esper let out a submissive little whine and tilt his head to the side and exposing the expanse of his neck to him. In his fantasy Esper's neck was adorned with an obvious mating mark, the darkened fur just begging to be sucked at and bitten, marking its owner as Aster's mate forever.

Aster snarled as he came, his seed spilling into his palm. Aster's breath came in short bursts as the buck recovered from his orgasm. "Fuck," he whispered. He felt guilty for imagining Esper in such an intimate position, but maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way about him? Esper had nearly been flirting with him earlier, was it possible that he had a chance with the beautiful doe?


	15. Chapter 14

Esper looked up from his book as a knock sounded from the front door of his rooms. He took note of his page and set the combat book down on the armrest and stood up. He walked to the door and pulled it open.

Amaya stood in front of him, King Valerian beside her. "Hey Esper, come on, we've got stuff to do!" Amaya chirped.

Esper blinked, "What?"

"We must begin the first test," King Valerian explained.

Esper nodded, "alright, where do we need to go?" he asked.

The Spring King smiled, "the training grounds, they're located on the ground level behind the Citadel."

Esper nodded, "alright."

The King smiled, "follow me." The King led the Winter siblings down the hallway toward the Autumn wing. They passed many doorways as they walked down the ice blue carpet, Esper looking at them curiously, trying to guess what was behind each of them.

Tapestries hung beside some of the doors, scenes of forests and families masterfully woven by the ancient pooka who had spent their lives mastering their craft. Esper however was more impressed by the craftsmanship of the carved pillars and walls.

He could recognize some of the carving techniques he had learned in school, but the style of most of the decorations escaped him.

"This way," King Valerian said, leading them through a door and down a twisting staircase. They descended several stories before they landed in a small room on what appeared to be the first floor. King Valerian walked opened the only door in the room, allowing sunlight to filter onto the stone store.

Esper blinked and walked after the King, emerging into a walled off open clearing. At least one of each ruling pair was there to greet them, both in the case of the Spring pair.

"Welcome to the Royal Winter training yard. This is a private training area for the Winter Monarchs and their descendants. It is off-limits for everyone that isn't a monarch or related to one without an invitation, so if you wish you can train here after we're finished," Queen Rihana said.

Esper's thoughts immediately flew to Aster. Does that mean the Spring Buck was allowed here? He was a descendant of the Spring pair, even if it was several generations removed.

"I have a question," Amaya said, "is this the same as the tests that determine if someone is an Heir?"

King Valerian shook his head, "no. It's similar but more thorough. Judging on what your parents said I wouldn't be surprised if both of you are Heirs. Considering that you two are the last of your family you were both likely to be named Heir in case one of you suddenly died." The siblings nodded along. "There is actually someone here undergoing the testing to see if he is an Heir," he continued.

Amaya blinked, "Who?" she asked curiously.

"One of our descendants, Aster Bunnymund," Queen Rihana said.

"Aster's here?" Amaya said, surprised.

Esper nodded, "I ran into him earlier."

His sister turned to him, "Where? When?"

Esper coughed, embarrassed, "At the library, I ran into him. Literally."

King Valerian quirked a brow, "you know him?" he asked. The twins nodded.

"He was a friend of ours when we were little," Amaya explained.

"An interesting coincidence, but we do have something to do," King Sorrel said.

The Spring King nodded, "yes, yes we do. Unlike the process to identify an heir, this is a bit lengthier. A monarch can identify an Heir after a certain amount of time exposed to their magic, but to find a monarch you need to take a little more through."

The littermates nodded, waiting for an explanation of what they would be doing.

"You can both summon ice and wind correct?" Queen Trillium asked. Esper and Amaya nodded.

The Queen sighed, "Pity, it would be easier if only one of you could. The first test we can run is a magic sensory exam, we need you to touch your cores and bring strands of magic into the physical world."

They nodded and crouched down, settling into a classic meditation position. Esper closed his eyes and slowed his breathing, turning his focus inward toward him magic core. Each pooka had a core of magic inside them, a bright ball of multicolored magic that reflected their seasonal affiliation, personality, and overall mood.

One of the first things basic magic classes taught was how to get in touch with your core. Every time you used magic it required touching the core and manipulating. It was easy to use magic and manipulate it into spells, but to summon pure magic out of the body required immense concentration.

When he was younger he had spent a lot of time meditating in an attempt to touch his core. Even with his many extra hours of meditation, he was still one of the last to get it. It was one of his greatest embarrassments to date. Despite what the monarchs said, he didn't have the supposedly huge magical capacity that Heirs and Monarchs had.

Sighing he turned his attention back to his core. Carefully he delved into his consciousness, probing for his core. A tendril of magic flowed within him, uncurling from his core. Mentally, he grasped the energy and followed it.

He followed it back to the main source. He smiled softly as the familiar, warm magic surrounded him. His magic was a warm gold interspaced with light blue, green, red, and orange. He grabbed the multicolored energy and pulled outward, pulling it into his paws.

He opened his eyes, keeping his focus on the magic so that it didn't dissipate or return to his body. Amaya had also summoned her magic, the red gold stream winding in between her paws.

King Valerian nodded, "good," he praised, "now what we have to do is for the monarchs to feel out your magic. You'll need to channel it over to us and we'll take it from there."

The littermates followed his instructions, sending tendrils of magic to each of the rulers. The elder pooka each held out a paw, touching their magic and absorbing a bit into their bodies.

Esper's mind prickled at the touch, the feeling of so many unrelated pooka at once was rather uncomfortable. For pooka, the exchanging of magic wasn't done between nonfamily members unless they were mates or in a life threatening situation, so he had rather uncomfortable.

Esper wondered if this was what parents felt when they poured magic into their kits. He couldn't sense their moods like when Hawthorn and Lilliana had given him their magic, but somehow he knew that Queen Trillium had banged her shin on the way here and that King Sorrel had accidentally bitten her tongue a few minutes ago.

He had to stop his magic from reaching out and trying to heal the wounds as he would if he were giving magic to a kit, such an invasion would not be received very warmly by adults.

The monarchs examined their magic for several nervous minutes, their expressions blank with concentration. Silence reigned in the training ground, the only sound being the wind and chirping of passing birds.

Eventually King Valerian pulled back from the magic, the other monarchs soon following suit. Esper pulled his magic back to him, absorbing the energy back into his core.

"I found no problems with proceeding into testing," King Sorrel said, "did anyone else?" The other monarchs shook their heads.

King Valerian grinned, "Excellent!"

"If you don't mind me asking sir, what did that test do exactly?" Amaya asked curiously.

The Spring King chuckled, "no problem at all! That was a precursor test. It made sure that you were who you said you were, descendants of the line of Winter. Many of the tests that you'll go through are just to make sure that you have the proper magic so that the final test won't kill you."

"Kill us?!" The twins exclaimed, unnerved.

Queen Rihana nodded, "yes. After the Summer rebellion the final test, which before then had been the only test, would kill those it deemed unworthy."

The twins exchanged a nervous glance.

"But there is no reason to fear," King Valerian said quickly, "the remaining tests are there for a reason, there is very little chance that you will be harmed."

"Wonderful," Amaya muttered.

"It is rather distressing to learn at first," Queen Trillium said, "I felt the same way when I learned of the tests, but only one person has ever been harmed in the test, and they cheated their way through the testing. As long as you are truthful no harm will come to you."

The twins nodded, grateful for the reassurance.

"So what next?" Esper asked.

"Now, you need to conjure ice, snow, something of the like. Perhaps since you are so young we should begin with frost. How advanced are you two in summoning winter elements?" King Valerian asked.

"The most I've ever managed at one time was a chunk of ice maybe eight, nine feet high," Esper answered, "I've never really tried to summon snow or frost though."

Amaya nodded, "I focused more on ruins, I can conjure snow, but I've never had a need for ice."

"For the next test, you'll need to focus on whatever part of Winter you have the least amount of experience with," Queen Savyon said, "We'll monitor your magic output and look for signs of royal magic."

"Alright, how should we start?" Amaya asked. The Queen turned and held out a paw. A moment later plants erupted from the ground, growing into two vaguely pooka shaped targets. "Hit those with whatever you wish," she said.

Esper stared at the targets, awed by the incredible display of magic. "How did you do that?" he asked, amazement clear in his voice.

The Autumn doe smiled, "a lot of practice little one. Now, you have a test to perform."

Esper nodded, "right."

He exhaled and turned to the targets. Imagining the flow of energy, he pushed cold magic into the air. He manipulated it to wrap around the water particles in the air, and then rapidly dropped the temperature. Snow formed in the air, suspended by a small current of air.

Esper grinned and pushed it at the target. He carefully split his attention between freezing the water and sending it at the target, making sure to keep the magic in check so that he didn't accidentally freeze Amaya or one of the monarchs. That would lead to a not very pleasant conversation with the royal guards.

Esper managed to keep up the cycle for nearly two full minutes before he finally lost control of the Winter magic. Curious, he looked at the target to see what his efforts had done. The bottom of the target was buried in nearly four feet of snow piled around the base. He grinned, that was one of the best results he had ever gotten.

He turned to his sister, curious about what she had done. Her target was encased in nearly two inches of ice, glistening in the bright sunlight of the binary suns.

"Very impressive young ones," Queen Trillium said. "What did you feel from them?" she asked, turning to her companions.

"I did feel something from Amaya, but I couldn't get a good read on Esper," Queen Rihana said. Her mate nodded beside her. Esper's ears went back a little in embarrassment. Surely he had a little royal magic, all those from a royal line had at least a trace amounts of it.

Unless he was too weak for it? His mind once again went back to his magic classes, how he was always one of the last to accomplish what they had been shown.

He had never been particularly strong magic wise; that had always been Amaya's strong area. His sister had always been the stronger of the two of them. There was no way he was the Queen of Winter.

"I detected something from him," Queen Trillium said. Esper stared at her in surprise.

"As did I," Queen Savyon confirmed. Esper let out a small smile.

"Well, it looks like we didn't bring you out here for nothing!" King Valerian said, "it would seem that both of you have the potential to be a monarch or at least an Heir."

The twins exchanged a grin.

"We're done for now," the Spring King said, "you two can go if you wish."

"Thank you sir," Esper said, grinning.

Valerian waved him off, "I'm just doing my job."

Esper nodded and turned, following Amaya back to the castle. They climbed the stairs, eventually making it back to their floor.

"Hey Esper, where's the library?" Amaya asked, looking over at her brother.

Esper blinked, "huh? Oh it's down a hallway behind that door," he said, pointing to the he had gone through the day before.

"Thanks."

"No problem. You planning to do a little research while we're here?" he asked.

Amaya shrugged, "maybe, I'll at least want to look around a little." The twins separated when they reached their rooms. Esper walked into his sitting room, going back to his chair and picking up his book.

He curled up, opening the book and continuing where he left off. Esper read through several chapters before he slowly began to nod off. His eyelids grew heavy and he fell asleep.

* * *

><p>"Hey Aster!" Aster groaned and turned around, annoyed.<p>

"What do you want Fawn?" he asked. The brown female buck bounced up behind him.

"So did you hear about the two Winters that were brought in yesterday?" she asked.

"Yes, I ran into one of them in the library a while ago," he replied.

Fawn grinned, "Oh? Which one, the doe or the buck."

Aster growled, "you better not be planning to mess with him Fawn." The female buck laughed, "So defensive! It was the doe wasn't it? Tell me Aster, did this doe managed to sweep cranky old you off your feet?"

"Shut up Fawn!" he hissed.

She laughed, "fine, fine! But you might want to hurry up and make a move Aster. A doe with that beautiful fur and such bright eyes will attract a lot of attention."

"And what makes you think he wouldn't just laugh me off?" Aster hissed.

Fawn scoffed, "Aster, I was there in the library yesterday, I was watching you. In all my two hundred years I have never seen a doe that interested. Hurry up and ask to court him, the worst he can do is say no after all."

Aster hesitated, "I…"

"Think about it Aster, but don't think that long," Fawn said, turning and walking off.

Aster watched her walk off, astounded. So, was it true then? Esper really did like him?


	16. Chapter 15

Esper growled in frustration as the illusion fizzled out.

The doe had been attempting to cast an illusionary spell he had learned in his book, but so far the magic was escaping him.

The spell he was working on was supposed to make the castor invisible to the outside world, but so far he had only managed to make his arm translucent.

Looking at the white tinted ground through his flesh had been a very unnerving experience, but he couldn't progress any further.

"Ihed ormf gihst," he hissed, willing the magic to cover his body. He felt the now familiar tingling of magic working on his body, making his skin itch. Esper had to stop himself from scratching his skin, trying to focus on his magic. His arms seemed to slowly fade from sight, going as far to appear transparent.

"Finally!" Esper yelled gleefully, turning his arms to look at them. He could still see the outline of his limbs, but you had to know where to look to see them.

"What in the name of the First Light are you doing?" Aster asked, coming up behind Esper.

The white doe honked and whirled around to face the newcomer.

"Don't do that Aster, you nearly gave me a heart attack!" Esper said, clutching his chest.

Aster quirked a brow, "Sorry, I didn't realize you were training."

"I'm in the middle of the training grounds, what else would I be doing?" Esper said.

Aster shrugged, "Don't know, but from the door it looked like you were just standing there."

Esper huffed, "Well I wasn't just standing there, I was trying to cast an illusion on myself."

"Oh? show me," Aster said.

Esper flushed, "I-I haven't managed to complete it yet, I just started earlier today." he muttered evasively.

Aster chuckled, "Shy are we?"

Esper's face heated up. "Shut up Aster!" he yelled, his ears pinning back. The buck just kept laughing. Esper hissed at him, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Why are you here anyway? This is the Winter training grounds, shouldn't you be in the Spring ones?" he asked.

Aster nodded, "If I was training I would be. But that's not why I'm here."

Esper quirked a brow, "Oh? If you're not here to train, why are you here?"

Aster coughed uncomfortably, shifting in place. "I came to see you," he admitted, refusing to meet his eyes.

The doe's hearts fluttered at his words. "I didn't realize you liked my company that much Aster," Esper said, smirking.

"Shut up."

Esper laughed, desperately trying to conceal how nervous he was.

"So what are you working on?" Aster asked, changing the subject.

Esper paused before answering. "I'm trying to make myself invisible," he said.

Aster blinked, "That's… pretty impressive actually."

Esper gave a small smile, "Thanks Aster, I haven't made much progress though."

His companion nodded, "what progress have you made?"

Esper bit his lip. "I could show you if you want," he offered.

He was torn between wanting to show off to his crush desperately trying to wave him off out of embarrassment from the lack of progress.

"I'd like that," Aster said, backing up to give Esper a bit of space.

Esper gave him a nervous smile before focusing on his magic. He let out a shaky breath before casting the spell. He repeated the incantation, pulling his magic from within him and guiding it over his skin. His skin tingled more than ever before as the magic worked over it.

"Wow," Aster murmured, looking over Esper. The doe blinked, looking at the other in confusion.

"What is it?" Esper asked.

"Look down," Aster commanded. Esper frowned in confusion before looking down and gasping. He was mostly translucent, excluding the tips of his ears and tail which were still solid looking.

"So this is 'not much progress'?" Aster said jokingly. Esper flushed.

"I've never managed to get this far before," he explained, "I'd only just gotten my arms translucent before you came."

Aster chuckled, "I must be your good luck charm," he said jokingly.

Esper laughed, "I guess so."

Esper let go of the spell, allowing his body to fade into full view. The pair lapsed into silence, unsure of what to say next.

"So is illusionary magic your secondary?" Aster asked.

Esper flushed and shook his head, "No, it's my primary."

Aster blinked in surprise. "But you're from the line of Winter, shouldn't Winter magic be your primary?" he asked, confused.

Esper's ears pinned to the back of his head, "I don't know, it's just not ok," he muttered defensively.

Aster held his paws up in surrender, "Sorry."

Esper huffed and looked away.

"Hey, you showed me your magic, why don't I show you mine," Aster offered. Esper looked up in surprise.

"Would you?" he asked, curious.

Aster smirked, "sure, it's only fair after all."

Esper grinned, "Alright then, if you insist."

Aster smirked at him, "prepare to be amazed."

Esper laughed, "confident are we?"

Aster chuckled, "very."

The buck turned to the empty land in front of them and concentrated. He pushed his magic into the soil, grabbing the seed he had planted there earlier and pushing his magic inside.

He fed the seed his magic, forcing it to grow extremely quickly. A few moments passed with nothing happening on the surface.

Esper looked around, confused as to what Aster was trying to do.

A moment later a small seedling pushed up through the ground. The small green plant grew up into the air, limbs branching off from the stock and growing leaves.

Esper watched in amazement as the small plant grew taller and taller until a small bud formed at the top of the seedling.

The bud slowly opened, reveling pink petals. The flower's growth suddenly dropped off, the stock and leaves of the plant stopped growing while the bud opened.

When it had finished opening a small plant, roughly two feet tall, stood where there had previously only been brown dirt. It had bloomed into a single beautiful red-pink bloom.

The flower was red around the tips of the petals before fading to a dark pink. It was a good sized flower, maybe five or six inches across comprised of many petals unfurling from the center.

"Woah," Esper said, staring at the flower in amazement. "What kind of flower is that?" he asked, turning to Aster.

"It doesn't really have a name, I bred it myself," Aster admitted.

"So you're a gardener then," Esper said thoughtfully, "do you have any other types of flowers that nobody else knows about?"

Aster grinned, "a few."

"That's awesome Aster, where are they?" Esper asked, "I want to see them."

Aster blinked, "I have some of the seeds here, but most of them are back on Terra."

"Can I see some of the ones you have?" Esper asked eagerly.

"Sure, if you want," Aster said, "I have the seeds in my room if you want to wait while I go grab them."

Esper grinned, "that'd be great!"

Aster nodded, "Alright, I'll be back in a tick." The buck turned around and walked back to the staircase. He quickly climbed the stairs, exiting on the floor that housed the guard quarters.

He honestly couldn't believe his luck. He thought it would be difficult to get Esper alone, away from the monarchs or his sister. Now was his chance to impress the doe he had been watching for so long.

He walked down the corridor that housed the guard rooms.

Luckily since it was the middle of the day most of the occupants were off performing their duties, so he could walk to his room without being stopped.

Aster stopped at his door, pushing the it open and stepping inside. He went to a jar on the nightstand next to his nest and lifted up the lid. He set the top to the side and picked up the jar.

Aster tipped it to the side, allowing the small bags within to fall into his paw.

He could show Esper all of them now, or he could wait until later to show off.

Making up his mind, he grabbed a light blue bag, putting the rest back into the jar. He turned and walked back out of his room.

Several passerby gave him odd looks as he hurried down the hallways of the Citadel, but Aster paid them no mind. A couple minutes later he reached the Winter wing and descended to the training yard.

He pushed the door at the bottom open, walking back into the courtyard. Aster nearly fell over in surprise at the sight that greeted him.

Esper was leaning over to smell the flower he had grown, the doe's fluffy tail perked up. From this angle Aster could see Esper's pink little hole, fully on display for the buck.

Aster had to shove his arousal down before it managed to reach his scent. He cleared his throat to get Esper's attention, averting his eyes from the doe's form.

Esper turned around, just noticing Aster's presence. "So, how many seeds do you have?" Esper asked, curious.

Aster showed the other his paw. "Just the one for now, I have others, but I need to conserve my magic for a test I have to go through later," he explained.

Esper nodded, "Is it an Heir test?"

Aster's eyes widened, "yeah, how did you know?"

"Queen Rihana told Amaya and I," Esper explained, "you sure are full of suprises aren't you Aster?"

The buck chuckled nervously. "I suppose so. Anyway, let me show you the flower."

Esper grinned in anticipation.

Aster walked towards him, lowering himself to all fours and unsheathing his claws on one paw. He swiped at the ground, scooping a small hole in the ground.

He placed the seed in the hole he had formed before covering it and stepping back. He once again pushed his magic into the seed, encouraging it to grow as fast as possible.

The sprout pushed through the soil a moment later, growing taller before branching out limbs adorned with dark green leaves.

This plant grew past the height of the other, stopping it's growth around four feet. Buds began to grow along the limbs, growing inside before slipping open.

These flowers were smaller than the other, only three and a half inches across but no less beautiful for it.

The edges of the petals seemed to be dipped in a deep blue that outlined the icy interior of the flower. The light blue faded to white in the center of the flower, contrasting beautifully with the darker shade around the edges of the flower. The blossoms stood out among the sleek hunter green leaves.

"By the gods Aster," Esper murmured.

Aster grinned, "do you like them?" he asked.

Esper gaped at him, "like them? They're beautiful Aster!"

Pride filled the buck at his chosen doe's words.

"Do these have a name?" Esper asked, running a paw along the soft petals.

Aster nodded, "I haven't officially given them a name, but I've taken to calling them Esper flowers."

The white doe turned to him in surprise.

"Esper flowers?" he repeated. "Any relation to me?" he asked jokingly. Aster's hearts began to beat faster nervously. "Uh, yeah they do actually. I bred them with your coloring in mind," he admitted quietly.

Esper flushed, embarrassed. "That's really flattering Aster," he said, "but why me?" Aster swallowed quietly, trying to hide his nervousness.

"I was hoping to show them to you and ask you if you would let me court you," Aster said, looking Esper straight in the eye. Esper's jaw dropped in surprise.

"I know you have Aspen, and he probably wants to court you as well, but I was hoping that you would at least give me a chance to prove myself," he said.

Esper stared at him, not making a sound. This wasn't some cruel dream was it? Aster was seriously here, asking to court him right? This was what he had dreamed of for nearly eight years. If he woke up to find that this had never happened he would be crushed.

"This isn't a dream right?" he asked.

Aster bit his lip, "uh, no, it's not. Esper if you don't want me to you can just say so."

Esper's eyes widened, "Nonononono!" he yelled waving his arms wildly. Aster blinked in surprise. Esper exhaled, giving Aster a large smile.

"I would love for you to court me," he said.

Aster let out a relieved sigh. "I was worried you were about to reject me," he said.

Esper shook his head. "Believe me Aster, I've been hoping for years that you would ask me when we reached adulthood," he admitted.

Aster blinked, "really? I thought you liked Aspen."

"I did when we were about twelveish," Esper said, "but it was just a small crush, it was over within a few months."

Aster nodded, "he won't try to object to our courtship will he? It's pretty obvious that he like you as more than a friend."

Esper frowned, "hopefully he'll support me and stay friends with me. He asked to court me as well, maybe a month or so before graduation, but I turned him down."

"If you don't mind me asking, why did you?" Aster asked, confused. Esper flushed a little.

"Well, to be honest I don't just like him like that. Plus, I was kind of hoping that when you came back home I'd be able to impress you get you ask me instead," he said, looking down.

Aster chuckled, "believe me Esper, you didn't have to do anything more to impress me. I'd planned to do my tour immediately after I graduated and then get back before you did, but I was too nervous to and ended up renewing it."

Esper smiled happily, "glad I ran into you when I did then," he said.

Aster let out a small laugh, "I am too."

The pair fell silent for a moment before Esper spoke up.

"So what are these drawings of me that you supposedly have?" he asked, smirking.

Aster froze. "W-What drawings?" he asked, nervously.

Esper's smirk grew, "you know, one of those drawings."

Aster flushed, "how in the gods names did you find out about those?"

"Siblings have a tendency to tell more than they should," he teased.

"Rowanoak!" Aster hissed.

Esper laughed, "Ding, ding, ding, we have a winner!"

"I'm going to kill him," Aster said, his ears folded back in embarrassment.

"So will you ever show me these drawings?" Esper asked cheekily.

Aster flushed, "no!"

Esper pouted, "darn. You know it's not every day the buck I've had a crush on for ages draws porn of me," he said. Esper paused"unless it is?"

"No!" Aster yelled.

The doe laughed. "You're so much fun to mess with Aster," he said.

"You're a menace," Aster muttered.

Esper grinned, "yep! You better get used to it!"

Aster groaned, "what have I gotten myself into?"

Esper snickered, "I'll try not to drive you away with my crazy," he said.

Aster shook his head, "Please do."

The doe rolled his eyes. "Still, thanks for asking to court me Aster, I'm looking forward to see what you have planned," he said, "I have to go, but I'll see you later."

Aster grinned and nodded, "thanks for giving me a chance."

Esper grinned back, "No problem, bye Aster." The doe turned towards the stairs, rubbing himself against Aster as he passed.

Aster watched him go, for the first time unashamedly watching Esper's ass as he walked away.


	17. Chapter 16

Sorry for the month long break guys! I really didn't mean to wait so ling before updating. But on a good note, I have a beta now! Their username is Purple_Archer over on Ao3 if you want to check them out.

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><p>Esper knocked on his sister's door nervously. "Hold on!" Amaya yelled from within her rooms. A moment later the grey buck opened the door.<p>

"Esper? What do you need?" she asked. Esper gave her a nervous grin.

"Hey, Amaya. Could we go inside? I need to tell you something," he told her. She frowned in confusion but nodded, stepping out of the way to let him inside. She closed the door behind him, motioning him down the hall. Esper walked down the hall to a sitting room almost identical to his own.

"So what's up, Esp?" she asked, sitting down on the couch.

Esper let out a nervous breath. He knew Amaya didn't particularly like Aster, and he wasn't sure how she would react to their courtship.

"Yesterday Aster asked to court me," he said, getting right to the point.

Amaya's eyes widened. "He did what? What did you say?" she demanded.

Esper bit his lip. "I accepted."

Amaya sat back, trying to process her brother's words. "Why?" she asked, "He always snaps at you and is so rude to everyone, why would you want to court him? Why would he want to court you?"

Esper shrugged helplessly. "I just really like him," he admitted, "and he was only overly rude when you or Aspen were there, when it was just the two of us he was always civil. A bit cranky, but civil."

Amaya nodded thoughtfully. "How did he ask you?" she asked curiously.

Esper grinned, "It was actually kinda romantic," he said. "He walked in on me training and I showed him what I was working on. Then he offered to show me his magic and he made these two flowers grow and bloom. They were really pretty too. One was red and pink and the other was white and blue, and he said that he named the latter after me, then he asked."

Amaya leaned back, an unreadable expression on her face. Esper watched her warily, unsure how she would react. It was common knowledge back home that Amaya really didn't like Aster, and no one knew that better than Esper.

"Are you serious about this?" she asked.

Esper nodded. Amaya sighed, crossing her arms.

"Let me make this clear: I don't approve," she said. Esper winced. "But," she continued, "Even though I think he isn't good enough for you, if he makes you happy then I have no room to complain. Just give me some warning next time. If you show up with a mating mark on your neck and tell me that you mated after the fact, I'm going to be pissed."

Esper grinned, rushing over to his sister and hugging her, nuzzling her madly. "Hey, Esper, quit it!" Amaya yelled, pushing her brother back.

Esper laughed and stepped back, still grinning widely. Amaya shook her head, exasperated.

"That went much better than expected," Esper said happily.

Amaya frowned, "What, did you think that I would reject you and renounce you as my brother?"

Esper rubbed the back of his head sheepishly, "Maybe?"

Amaya groaned, "You are so stupid," she muttered.

"Am not!" Esper protested. She merely shook her head in response, rolling her eyes at her brother's antics. The pair lapsed into silence before Amaya spoke.

"We really are adults, aren't we?" she murmured.

Esper frowned, "Yeah, we are, what's so surprising about that?" he asked.

Amaya sighed and leaned forward. "I don't know, it just seems like we were little kits running around without a care just a little while ago," she said, "Now, before I have time to blink one of us is a monarch, you've had two courting proposals, and we've traveled across the galaxy."

Esper sighed, "I suppose when you put it that way it does seem like everything's been happening so quickly. But it happened, we're not kits anymore, Amaya. Heck, in a few years we might have some of our own."

Amaya groaned, "Don't remind me. Hey, speaking of reproduction, did you ever tell Aster about your little obsession with kits?"

Esper flushed, "Just because I want a lot of kits does not mean I have an obsession with them!" he muttered.

Amaya raised a brow, "Oh really? You know, most people don't want to have a warren full of kits." Esper flushed. "Besides, if he's going to be the Da of said kits he should know about your plans. Unless you're avoiding that topic."

Esper huffed, "I am not! It just hasn't come up." That was sort of untrue, he was a little nervous to share that particular bit of information with Aster for fear of scaring him off. Bucks wanted kits just as badly as does, but Esper wanted a few more kits than the average family had. A lot more.

"You better hope I'm the Monarch then," Amaya said, "But just so you know, I'm going to have talk to Aster about just what it entails to be courting my brother."

"Don't you dare!" Esper yelled, his ears dropping against his neck.

Amaya laughed, "Yes! I can't have just any buck court my little brother."

Esper growled, "Don't you dare Amaya!"

The buck smirked, standing up to tower over her smaller brother. "And just how are you going to stop me Esper?"

Esper snarled and jumped at her, wrapping his paws around her waist and pulling her to the ground. Amaya growled playfully and flipped herself over, landing on top of her brother. Esper hissed, wiggling in her hold.

"Give up little brother, you're no match for me!" she crowed.

"In your dreams," Esper hissed, kneeing her in the stomach and pulling out of her grip. A loud knock rang through apartment, ignored by the wrestling siblings. Amaya roared and launched herself at Esper, knocking into the doe and pulling him to the ground.

The door to the rooms suddenly flew open, hitting the wall with a loud bang. The siblings froze and looked up, staring at an armed and slightly flustered Aster Bunnymund.

"What in the gods' name are you two doing?" he yelled, sheathing the sword grasped in his paw, "I thought someone was trying to kill you!"

Esper glared at Amaya, "That's not entirely wrong…"

Amaya rolled her eyes and stood up, brushing bits of white fur off her torso.

"So, Aster, what is this I'm hearing about you courting my brother?" she asked, glaring at the other buck.

Aster crossed his arms and glared back. "I asked and he accepted, that's all you need to know," he growled.

Esper looked between the two of them warily. "Are you two going to fight over every little thing?" he asked, "Cause, I'm not dealing with that."

Amaya glanced back at her brother. "Not everything, just the important things," she said.

Esper raised a brow, "Define important."

Amaya chuckled, "Everything that has to do with you."

Esper groaned, "Wonderful. Just perfect. Good to know the next couple of months are going to be annoying as all hell."

Amaya snickered, "Oh come on, brother, it won't be that bad."

Esper glared at her, "Yes it will. You two fight more than anyone I've ever met."

"Are we really that bad?" Aster asked.

Esper nodded, "Yep. Though to be fair, it's mostly Amaya who picks a fight."

"I do not!" Amaya yelled.

"Yes you do," Esper said. "Anyway, is there a reason you're here Aster?" he asked.

The spring buck nodded, "I was wondering if I could borrow you for the evening."

Amaya grinned, "Great idea! Let me go get my fur in order and we can go!"

Aster gave her an unimpressed stare, "Not you; Esper."

Amaya laughed softly, her eyes glinting with anger, "And what makes you think I'm going to leave you alone with my baby brother?" she hissed.

Aster hissed back, "How about because we're courting? Is that good enough for you?"

Amaya growled, "No, it's not! Esper may trust you, but I sure as hell don't and I certainly won't let you hurt my brother!"

"Amaya, quit picking a fight! I thought you were alright with this!" Esper yelled, stepping in between his litter mate and his romantic interest.

"That doesn't mean I want you alone with him!" she snarled.

"We're not going anywhere private, I'm taking him to go see the city!" Aster snarled, stepping forward.

Amaya growled, "Well…"

"Amaya, shut up!" Esper screamed, "I don't care what you think, I'm going to go with him! I want to have a relationship with him, and your petty grudge over what happened when we were little is not going to stop that!"

'For a moment' Amaya looked like she was about to strike Esper, the powerful smell of an angry buck suddenly filling the room. Esper leaned back, briefly wondering if he had gone too far, but before he could attempt to placate his sister Aster stalked forward, pulling the white doe behind him. Esper gratefully hid behind him, breathing in Aster's calming, protective scent.

Amaya growled once before stepping back. "Fine, take him, but I hear one word from him that you forced him to do anything he didn't want to and I'm stringing you up by the balls on the highest tower in the city," she threatened.

"I would never do that to him," Aster said, reaching back and grabbed Esper's paw. Esper let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding as Amaya sighed and turned away from them.

Aster took that as their cue to leave, pulling Esper back out of his sister's room. Esper glanced back just as Aster shut the door, catching a glimpse of his sister's turned back. Once the door was firmly shut, Aster sighed, shaking his head.

"Well, that could have gone better," he muttered, squeezing Esper's paw. Esper nodded silently. "Do you want to explore the city, or would you rather stay here after that?" Aster asked.

Esper shook his head, "No, I don't want Amaya to spoil our time together. Besides, I really want to see the city!" There would be so much more to do in the big city, so many more people to meet.

The buck gave him a small smile, "Alright, is there something particular you want to see, or are you fine with just wandering around?"

Esper paused, "I can't think of anything at the moment. Really, I just want to see something that isn't our little backwater planet."

Aster shook his head, "I think that backwater planet has some charm to it. More than the city at least."

The doe raised an eyebrow. "Not a fan of the city I'm guessing?"

Aster shook his head, "Not at all. Not nearly enough greenery in my opinion. That, and everyone seems to recognize me as a Bunnymund here."

Aster always had hated having other's attention on him. It didn't really surprise Esper that he would find city life uncomfortable.

"You do have the typical markings from your family. And the eyes," Esper agreed. "But I have to say, I've never seen such vivid eyes outside your clan."

"Have you tried looking in a mirror?" Aster asked, "I really don't think that enchanting shade of blue is very common."

A large blush spread over Esper's face, his ears dipping back at the compliment.

Aster smirked, "Come on, we should get going. There's a lot to cover and only so much time."

The doe nodded, his nose still tinted pink from his blush. Esper let the blue grey buck lead him through the castle, the curious doe taking in everything around him as he led around by the paw.

Aster led him to a simple door, pulling it open and gesturing for Esper to go through first. The white pooka smiled and walked into the fresh air of the outdoors, breathing in the scent of the city.

He could scent innumerable pooka, combined with the floral scents of gardens and the odd tangy scent of what could only be Lunarians.

Esper had never seen a Lunarian in person, but his parents had described their race to him, telling him of their odd scents and their obsession with Pookan technology. He couldn't see any of the furless beings on the stone pathways leading to and from buildings, but that wasn't a surprise to the doe, other species were restricted from entering certain areas of the city as a safety precaution.

Draconians were particularly watched, the violent race being one of the pooka's natural adversaries. The two species had a centuries old treaty of peace, but still many had doubts about trusting the other shape shifting race.

"Is there a reason you're just standing there?" Aster asked, amusement coloring his voice.

Esper flushed, "I was just admiring the scenery. Come on, I want to see everything!"

Aster chuckled and grabbed Esper's paw again, intertwining their fingers. Esper smiled and looked up at the taller pooka, waiting for him to take charge.

"Let's just wander around for a while, see if we see something interesting."

Esper nodded, "Alright, lead the way."

Aster grinned and started forward, leading Esper across the bridge to the walkway on the other side. The pair walked down the path, looking over the city scape and at the various shops, searching for something that would catch their attention. Esper took the time to look at all of pooka milling about.

Pooka from all the seasons mingled freely in a way Esper rarely saw on his home planet. An Autumn buck was flirting with a Summer doe that was running a jewelry shop a little ways down the path. A mixed litter of Winter and Spring kits ran around playing a game on a nearby bridge, drawing amused looks from the passerby as their dam tried to calm them down.

Aster squeezed Esper's paw to draw his attention away from the other pooka. "Do you mind if we step in there for a moment?" Aster asked, gesturing to a store selling paints and other art supplies.

Esper shook his head, "Not at all."

Aster grinned and tugged him over the storefront. A young female Winter doe greeted them from the counter as they entered, telling them that if they needed it anything she would be happy to help.

"Is there anything you're looking for, or are you just looking around?" Esper asked.

Aster shook his head, "A little bit of both. I need more dark blue and light green paint, but I don't want to get anything that's not high quality."

Esper chuckled, "Of course not. May the Gods forbid you ever use anything that's not absolutely perfect."

Aster snorted, "You're a brat, you know that right?"

"Aw, you know you love me," Esper teased.

Aster shook his head, "I have very questionable taste apparently."

"Hey! I am not questionable!" Esper growled. Aster smirked at him before returning his attention to the display of paints on the wall.

"I'm not…" Esper sulked.

They spent a few more minutes in the paint store before Aster proclaimed that he would return to the store to get the paint. After several hours of exploring they ended up in a pastry shop, exchanging stories over fruit filled treats.

"…And then Amaya fell into Mr. Ashi's desk, knocking everything to the floor and falling into his lap." Aster's laughter filled the mostly empty room, the deep tones setting Esper's hearts aflutter.

"How did Amaya recover from that?" he asked.

Esper grinned, "She didn't. She jumped up, sputtering nonsense before saying something about a bathroom and nearly running out of class. I swear, she was just about ready to explode from embarrassment."

Aster chuckled, "I have to say, your siblings have done some crazy things, but they've got nothing on what my elder brother pulled."

Esper quirked a brow, "Oh? Which one was is and what did he do?"

"He's a male doe from two litters ago, I don't think you ever met him, but his name is Ren. I swear, he has the worst temper you could imagine, and there was this buck in his class that he absolutely hated. They fought constantly, arguing over everything and coming to blows once or twice. Then, one day, the both of them suddenly disappear. Everyone thought they managed to get themselves killed or lost somewhere in the wilderness. Then, about a week later, they come back covered in bite marks and reeking of sex. Apparently, they had been 'courting', if you can call it that, for nearly a year and a half without telling anyone. They just showed up mated one day."

Esper chuckled, "Wow. How bad were they? Worse than you and Amaya?"

Aster laughed, "Much worse. If you take the amount of time we spend fighting, intensify it about a hundred times and double the fighting, you've got them."

"Well, I guess that just goes to show you, you can find love everywhere," Esper said.

Aster nodded, "yes, you really can."

The Buck glanced out the window, blinking in surprise, "It's getting dark, we should get back to the palace. I really don't feel like being castrated by your overprotective older sister for 'taking advantage of you'."

"I wouldn't really mind if you did," Esper said, winking at his date.

Aster groaned, "You are going to be the death of me, I swear."

The Doe smirked, "Yes I am! But we really should get back, I don't want an angry Amaya ruining my very fine date with a very fine buck."

Aster blushed ever so slightly, averting his gaze from Esper's. Esper grabbed Aster's paw and led him out of the store, pulling him back to the palace.

Aster followed after him, blushing as Esper pressed himself against his side. The pair slowly made their way back to the palace, reluctant to part for the night. Eventually, they ended back up in front of Esper's rooms. Esper turned to the larger pooka.

"I had fun tonight, we'll definitely have to do this again," he said, leaning into Aster's side.

The Buck grinned, "I had fun too, I'll be glad to take you out again soon."

Esper grinned, "That'd be great! Well, see you later Aster."

The buck nodded as Esper detached himself from his side, opening his door and stepping inside. Esper gave him a flirtatious wink as he closed the door, leaving the buck to gape at him in the hallway.


	18. Chapter 17

Aster grunted in effort as he swung his sword up to block his sparring partner's jab.

"So, did you ask out that pretty little doe you were pining over?" Fawn asked, moving her arm to block Aster's counter strike.

"I don't see how that's any of your business," Aster said, glaring at the female.

Fawn laughed and kicked out at his middle, forcing Aster to drop an arm to defend his unprotected abdomen from the blow. "Come on, share with the class, Aster!" she taunted.

Aster growled and feinted to Fawn's left. "Is there a reason you're so interested in my love life, Fawn?"

The female buck grinned and dodged the blow. "Oh, no reason especially. It's just fun to see how that pretty little thing has Aster 'stick up the ass' Bunnymund wrapped around his paw," she said.

The blue-grey pooka's ears dipped back as he snarled. "I am not wrapped around his paw, and I don't have a stick up my ass!"

"Oh yeah, it's _your _stick that you want to put up _his _ass, right?" she teased.

Aster flushed, "Shut up, Fawn!" The younger pooka rushed forward, swinging his weapon at her shoulder recklessly.

The female sidestepped the blow and kicked Aster's open side, sending the smaller buck to the ground. "Yield," Fawn said, touching her sword to Aster's pulse point.

Aster growled, "Fine, fine, I yield."

Fawn grinned and lowered her blade, holding out a paw for Aster to take. The blue-grey pooka grabbed her outstretched paw and pulled himself up, brushing dust from his fur. Fawn raised a brow, "Well?"

"Well, what?" Aster asked. Fawn groaned, "Did you ask him out or not? Please tell me you did, 'cause Skye and I are betting on what happened and I bet fifty credits you asked him."

"Damn it Fawn, why are you betting on my personal life?" Aster growled, a dark flush spreading under his fur.

The brown pooka laughed, "Because it's fun? Don't worry, we bet on all the new recruits that pass by here, you're just _really_ interesting."

"Interesting my ass," Aster grumbled, walking over to the weapons rack and setting his wooden sword in its designated slot.

Fawn crossed her arms, raising a brow at Aster.

The smaller buck groaned, "Fine, I did. I asked him to court me and he said yes. Happy now?"

Fawn grinned, "Very. So is this little doe of yours the Winter Queen? He certainly looks the part."

"You know as well as I do that no one knows who it is yet," Aster said, "but both he and I think that it's his older sister."

"But what happens if he does turn out to be the Queen? Or even an Heir? Do you really think the Monarchs will let Heirs of different seasons mate?" Fawn asked.

Aster growled lowly, "I already thought of that. They said that it would be alright. They said that it would help the Line of Winter 'reassert its magical prowess' or something like that."

"Fair enough," Fawn said, "but between you and me? I think you should hope that he's just an Heir."

Aster frowned, "Why? What does that have to do with anything?"

A shit-eating grin spread over Fawn's muzzle. "Kits of course! If he's not the Queen, that means you have at least two millennia to stick as many little ones in his belly as you possibly can!"

Aster's ears folded against the back of his neck. "What in the first light's name is wrong with you!" he yelled, drawing the attention of several other soldiers that were loitering around the training arena.

The female broke out into uncontrollable laughter. "Oh wow, Aster, you are just too easy. Come one, don't tell me you haven't thought about holding that pretty little thing down and fucking him until he's bursting with kits? Summers are more my style, but damn, I've got to admit that he's a right pretty piece of ass," she said.

"This is why no doe wants to court you," Aster hissed, his nose darkening several shades from his blush.

Fawn chuckled, shaking her head back and forth, "Maybe, but still, have you looked at him? Nice wide hips, brilliant coat, and the wide blue eyes, he's like the most fuckable doe you've ever seen."

"I try not to think about him like that," Aster answered crisply.

"Because it gives you an erection? I can imagine why, I've seen the drawings of him in your nest."

"When were you in my nest? And how did you see them? I locked them up!" Aster hissed in embarrassment, balling his paws up into fists.

Fawn grinned, "I didn't, I was guessing. But thanks for admitting it, that'll make for good blackmail material."

"Why you-!"

"Now, now Aster, no need to be so defensive. Say, isn't that your little doe over there?" Fawn said, pointing over to the arena's entrance.

Aster swung around, blinking as Esper stepped into the harsh lighting, his crooked staff by his side.

"Hey, Winter! Over here!" Fawn yelled, waving wildly.

"Fawn, quit it!" Aster growled.

Fawn smirked, "Too late."

Esper grinned as he spotted them, waving back before jogging over. "Hey Aster, who's your friend?" Esper greeted.

Aster growled, "This smartass? Her name's Fawn."

Esper nodded and turned to Fawn. "I'm Esper, nice to meet you," he said.

"Likewise. Say, I haven't seen you around here before. This your first time down here?" Fawn asked.

"Yep, I was looking to try out some new stances somewhere where I won't nearly take my sister's head off," Esper said.

Aster raised a brow. "What did you do to Amaya?"

Esper grinned and rubbed his head guiltily. "Well, I was practicing a hook, right as she came in. And I might have accidentally grabbed her neck and flung her to the floor."

Aster burst out laughing, ignoring the death-glare Esper sent his way.

"It's not funny," he muttered, crossing his arms.

"Yes it is," Aster said, "I would have paid to see that."

"You're an asshole," Esper hissed at him.

"Believe me, we all know he is," Fawn said, "but you're the one courting him, so you'll just have to deal with his assholeishness."

"Shut up, Fawn," Aster growled.

Fawn smirked, "Nope! Hey, Esper, did Aster ever tell you about Juniper and his first spar with her?"

Esper raised a brow, "No. Is there a story I should know there?"

"Well, you see…"

"Shut up fawn!" Aster yelled, slapping a paw over the other buck's muzzle, his ears folding back in embarrassment.

"Aw, come on Aster, I want to hear this!" Esper said, grinning.

"Well, too bad, this is one story you'll have to miss. _Isn't that right, Fawn?" _Aster hissed.

The brown pooka nodded and said something, her words muffled beyond comprehension by the paw covering her mouth. Aster warily removed his paw, ready to silence the other buck if she tried to continue her tale.

"Well, now that that's over with, you should spar with me, Aster!" Esper said, grinning widely.

Aster raised a brow. "Are you sure that's a good idea, Esper? You're so tiny, I'd hate to squish you," he teased, smirking at his love interest.

"I am not tiny! Just for that, I'm going to wipe the floor with you!" Esper yelled angrily.

"Bring it," Aster challenged, walking over and grabbing his practice sword.

As soon as he was armed Esper charged at him, feinting to the left before spinning and striking at Aster's right side. The buck blocked the shot, pushing the staff to the side and jabbing at Esper's unprotected belly.

Esper dodged to the side, quickly striking Aster's sword arm with a fist. Aster growled and pulled his sword back, kicking Esper in the stomach to put some distance between them.

Just like he planned, Esper stumbled back several feet, allowing Aster room to gather his wits and form a plan.

A moment later he lashed out, slamming Esper's staff to the side with his sword and punching the doe in the chest. Esper flinched back, bringing his knee up to ward off the follow-up kick.

Aster pressed on, using his height to bear down on the smaller pooka. He grabbed Esper's wrist and bent it back, forcing the Winter to release his weapon.

Esper growled in frustration as the staff hit the ground, crouching under the sweeping blow to his head. He punched Aster in the gut, smirking as the buck grunted. The doe shot up, knocking his head painfully into Aster's chin and causing his opponent to stumble back. Esper pressed his advantage, quickly striking at Aster's face.

The buck knocked his fist harmlessly to the side, stepping backwards and slashing at Esper's shoulder. The white pooka fell to the ground under the force of the blow, rolling to the side as Aster attempted to strike his undefended chest. Esper sprung up, bringing his paws up to defend his torso.

Aster smirked and launched forward, quickly bringing his blade down on Esper's neck. Aster could hear the breath rushing out of Esper as he hit the ground, the doe crumpling under the hit.

Aster kneeled down between Esper's legs, pressing the wooden tip of his blade to the doe's wind pipe. "Yield," he whispered.

Esper grinned, "I give," The doe glanced up, suddenly worried, "But you might want to get off me now."

Aster frowned, "Why?"

"E. Aster Bunnymund, get offof my brother!" Amaya roared, charging across the arena.

"That's why," Esper said.

Aster's ears pinned back. "Shit!"

A moment later Amaya's impressive bulk tackled him, knocking him away from Esper. The doe scrambled up, backing away from the wrestling bucks.

"Is that your sister?" Fawn yelled, trying to be heard over the snarling combatants.

The white pooka gave a shaky nod, whimpering as the scent of the angry bucks nearly overwhelmed him.

The female buck quickly walked toward him, pulling the transfixed doe away from the fight.

Esper watched in mute horror as Amaya used her superior weight to keep Aster on the floor, raining blow after blow on the blue-grey buck.

Aster wasn't exactly small, at nearly nine feet tall he was nearly three inches taller than the average pooka, but Amaya towered over him by at least half a foot and had forty pounds on him.

As Esper watched, Amaya struck Aster across the face, her claws leaving bloody marks on her opponent's cheek. The scent of Aster's blood in the air snapped Esper out of his trance.

"Amaya, get off of him!" Esper yelled, wrenching out of Fawn's grasp and dashing forward.

Amaya growled in surprise as her brother tackled her from the side, throwing her off of Aster.

Esper snarled in response, climbing on top of her and pressing his own claws into her throat. "Enough, Amaya!" Esper hissed, pushing his sharp tips into the delicate flesh around her pulse point in an attempt to force her to stay still.

His sister snarled angrily and struck out with a foot, sending the much smaller pooka flying back.

He cried out in pain as his head slammed into the wall, his vision suddenly going fuzzy.

Aster roared in outrage, jumping at Amaya and slashing his claws at her throat. The dark grey buck held out her arms to guard her neck, snarling angrily at Aster. Aster slammed his knee into Amaya's stomach, forcing the breath from her lungs.

"Aster, Amaya, get off of each other now!" King Valerian yelled, a group of soldiers gathered behind him. The fighting bucks ignored him, too caught up in their instincts to listen.

Esper slowly stood, propping himself up against the wall Amaya had flung him against.

This was his fault, he realized in mute horror, he had caused this. He was what they were fighting so violently over. He watched as it took seven armored soldiers pulled the combatants apart.

Both Amaya and Aster had wounds all over their bodies, but it didn't look like either were injured too heavily, a miracle considering that both had gone feral.

Aster had taken the worst of the beating, dark blood dripping down his fur from various cuts. However, despite his wounds, he still fought fiercely, using the slickness of his blood to pull away from the soldiers and launch himself at Amaya.

"Aster, stop!" Esper yelled desperately. Aster froze in place, causing his restrainers to fall past him.

The buck turned to face Esper, recognizing the sound of his intended's voice and his own name. Esper held up a paw to stop the guards from attempting to restrain Aster, staring at the feral buck.

Aster growled softly and walked forward, stopping less than a foot away from where Esper leaned against the wall. Esper's hearts sped up at their close proximity, from fear or excitement Esper couldn't tell.

The buck purred softly, leaning forward to brush his nose against Esper's forehead. Esper let out a relieved sigh and purred back, allowing Aster to touch him and look for injuries.

"I'm fine, Aster. She didn't hurt me," Esper said, reaching out and putting a paw on Aster's shoulder. The volume of the buck's purring increased as Esper touched him, causing Esper to smile softly.

Esper's gaze briefly flickered to the other pooka as he sensed a burst of magic, but seeing that they were only knocking out Amaya, he returned his attention to the buck pinning him against the wall.

The blue**(comma)**grey buck licked the top of Esper's head in response, grooming the ruffled fur.

The doe squeaked in surprise at the intimate gesture, a dark blush spreading under his fur. Aster rumbled in response, moving his attentions up to nibble on Esper's ear.

The doe shuddered in pleasure at the sensitive flesh of his ear was played with. He mewled softly, his eyes fluttering closed and tipping his head forward to allow Aster more room.

King Valerian coughed loudly, drawing Esper's attention to the other pooka in the area. His ears tore out of Aster's grip, plastering themselves against his neck in embarrassment.

Aster growled in annoyance as he lost his soon-to-be mate's ear. The feral buck couldn't understand why his doe didn't want him to have the delicate flesh; he had been satisfied with Aster's attentions a moment ago. His doe clearly trusted him enough to allow him access to such an intimate area, why was he suddenly denying him?

The white pooka said something Aster couldn't comprehend, and suddenly there was a paw on his neck. Aster roared in anger as he lost consciousness.

Esper watched guiltily as Aster slumped, his bulk held up by the soldier who had knocked him out.

"I think it would be best if we discussed what happened in my office, don't you, Esper?" King Valerian said mildly.

Esper nodded, his attention on the unconscious bucks that were being carried out of the arena.

Aster groaned softly as he woke up. Various areas of his body were oddly sore, it felt as if he had been in a particularly brutal fight.

"Finally up, are you?" a female voice asked.

Aster opened his eyes, seeing Queen Rihana standing beside him. "My queen? What are you doing here?" Aster asked.

The older pooka hummed. "You don't remember anything do you?"

Aster frowned, "Should I? Did something happen?"

The Queen nodded. "Yes. However, it would be best explained elsewhere. Follow me, please."

The younger pooka pushed himself up, taking in the worrying sight of one of the infirmaries. He slipped off the bed he had been laying on, following the departing queen.

Queen Rihana led him out of the medical ward, wordlessly ascending several flights of stairs to the quarters of the Spring Monarchs. The Guards let them pass without a fuss, opening the led him down a hall into the sitting room, turning and knocking on a door next to the hall.

"Come in!" King Valerian called.

Queen Rihana pushed open the door, revealing the occupants of the room.

Esper and Amaya were seated before the King's desk, the King himself standing behind it. Queen Rihana walked forward, going up to her mate and pressing herself against his side.

"Aster, please have a seat," his ancestor said, gesturing to an empty third chair.

Aster nodded and strode forward, taking the offered chair.

"Now that we're all here, can either of you explain why my soldiers had to break up a fight between you two?" King Valerian asked, looking between Aster and Amaya.

Aster blinked**. **He had fought with Amaya?

"No? Then Esper, as you seem to be the only one who knows the full story, would you please explain?" The Spring King asked.

Esper glanced between them before sighing and beginning his tale. "I went to the sparring arena to get a little practice with my staff. I saw Aster and a friend of his there, so I went over to them. We talked for a bit before I challenged Aster to a spar. We fought for a few minutes before Aster disarmed me and knocked me to the ground. He put his practice sword to my throat and asked me to yield. I yielded, but before Aster could get off of me, Amaya came charging in and tackled him. They started to fight, and I guess they went feral, because they started using claws and actually trying to hurt each other. I tried to get Amaya off of Aster but she threw me into a wall. Eventually, you and your guards showed up and broke them up."

King Valerian nodded. "What do you have to say for yourselves?" he asked, turning to face the bucks, "not only did you show a magnificent lack of self-control, but one of you managed to injure a doe and the other molested him."

"I did what?!" "You molested my brother?!" They yelled simultaneously.

Esper squeaked in embarrassment as both of the younger bucks turned to face him. "I'm fine, Aster didn't try to mate me or something like that," he muttered.

"As glad as I am that he doesn't feel too violated, the principle of your actions remains. You, Aster, are being suspended from guard duty for two weeks. Amaya, you are to remain in your rooms unless summoned by myself or another monarch for the same period. Am I understood?" King Valerian asked.

"Yes, sir."

"Yes, my king."

The Spring Monarch nodded, "Very good. Amaya, Esper, you may leave, I need to speak with Aster."

The Winter siblings nodded and stood, leaving the room.

"What did I do to him?" Aster asked, horrified at himself.

His great-great-grandfather sighed. "You pinned him against a wall and began to groom his fur and bite his ears."

Aster flinched guiltily. That was a horribly intimate thing for someone to do, such a thing was reserved only for mates, and was certainly never done in public. He had no right to do that to Esper, no matter how they felt for each other.

"I really screwed up didn't I?" he asked brokenly.

"You did," King Valerian agreed, "but you may redeem yourself. He truly cares for you, and you for him. As long as you don't commit any further sins, your relationship may still be salvaged. Tread carefully from now on."

Aster nodded, "I will."

The King smiled, "Good. Now, go to your rooms. Take this time to think of how you can make up with your love."

"I shall. Thank you."


	19. Chapter 18

Aster grimaced at the half painted canvas. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't get the exact shade of red of the sunset over the Citadel.

With his temporary suspension from the army, he had more than enough free time to paint and sketch. While normally he might have enjoyed the time to himself, he couldn't focus on his art, his mind constantly turning to Esper.

The fear of rejection constantly hung over him, sapping the enjoyment from things he normally loved. Half complete sketches filled his notebooks, depressingly barren of color. Aster set his brush down on the easel, turning away and walking to the other end of the room. He couldn't focus on anything but Esper, and it was tearing him apart.

He was absolutely disgusted by his actions; he had taken advantage of Esper and their fledgling relationship. It would be a miracle if the doe could find it in him to forgive him, and even then he wasn't sure he could accept Esper's forgiveness.

In ten minutes he had betrayed everything he stood for, everything he believed in. He had disgraced the metaphorical uniform, and it was a miracle he hadn't been discharged dishonorably for his transgressions. The only thing that had saved him was the fact that technically, he wasn't he aggressor, Amaya had attacked him.

He rubbed his face tiredly, thinking over what happened wouldn't solve anything. He wouldn't find anything out until his probation was over and he could confront Esper. Until then he was stuck here.

* * *

><p>"You're an absolute moron, you realize that right?" Esper said, crossing his arms and glaring at his sister.<p>

"Am I?" Amaya asked, leaning back in her chair, "Because I don't see anything wrong with what I did."

Esper snarled in frustration, "Amaya, you attacked him for absolutely no reason! How do you not see the problem with that?"

The female buck scoffed, "If I had attacked him for no reason, then yeah, I'd see the problem. But that wasn't the case. I didn't go after him because I hate him, which I do, I attacked because I saw a buck practically straddling my little brother while holding a sword to his neck. No matter what you think, I was protecting you."

"That's a load of crap and you know it, Amaya! Aster would never hurt me!" Esper hissed.

"That's a lie," Amaya said, "I doubt that pinning you against a wall and molesting you is 'not hurting you'. He's dangerous, and you know it, Esper."

The doe growled in frustration, "He's about as dangerous as you! It was you who chucked me against a wall if you'll remember."

Amaya sighed, "Fine, I'll admit, that wasn't my best moment. But Esper, you're my little doe brother. With Da and Dam on another planet it's my job protect you from anything that would hurt you, questionable bucks included."

Esper rolled his eyes, "I can take care of myself you know."

Amaya smirked, "Sure you can."

"You're a jerk, you know that?" Esper said.

Amaya chuckled, "I try my best, little brother."

"Enough about my taste in courting partners. Is there a doe that's managed to catch your attention?" Esper asked, grinning.

"Maybe, maybe not. What's it to you, tiny?" Amaya said.

"I am not tiny!" the doe yelled, glaring at his companion, "Now, answer the question!"

His sister laughed, "Yes you are. But there is this cute little Winter female that's caught my eye."

Esper raised a brow, "Oh? Who is she? What's she like?"

Amaya grinned, "Her name's Eira, and she's a servant in the castle. She's sort of withdrawn, and a bit of a loner, but she's very kind. She's also the one who's been assigned to look after me while I'm under 'house arrest'."

Esper shook his head, "I feel sorry for her, stuck with you for so long."

Amaya growled playfully, "Shut up, Esper!"

The doe stuck his tongue out at her teasingly. "Whatever. I have a buck to go reassure," Esper said, turning and walking towards the door.

"Wait, what?" Amaya yelled, pushing herself up from her chair.

Esper looked back at her, "Amaya, calm down. I kind of want to keep the relationship I have, I don't want him cutting off our courtship just because he thinks I'm mad at him. Beside, after throwing me into a wall, you kind of owe me."

The buck snarled, "Fine. But if he messes up one more time, I'll make a rug out of his stupid pelt."

Esper rolled his eyes and reached for the door handle, "Sure, sure. Bye, Amaya."

Without waiting for a reply, he pulled open the door and walked out.

Amaya groaned, "Idiot."

* * *

><p>Esper cocked his head and stared at the door in front of him. In clear letters, Aster's name was spelt out on a metal name plate in the center of the door.<p>

"Well, better to ask forgiveness than for permission," Esper muttered, pushing the door open and peering in.

Aster's nest was situated in the middle of the plain room, the blue-grey buck himself resting in the middle of the nest. Esper walked in, letting the door close with a click behind him. Aster was sprawled out in the nest, snoring peacefully, oblivious to the intruding doe.

"Alright, that's kind of adorable," Esper whispered. Tearing his eyes off the sleeping buck, he looked around the room itself.

In a few words, it was a mess, even more than would be expected of an unmated buck.

Crumpled papers were strewn around the floor while half eaten fruits from Aster's last meal littered the desktop. A paint covered easel was standing in the corner, a partially complete painting of what appeared to be the Citadel at sunset leaning against one of the legs.

"You are a slob, Aster," Esper muttered, eyeing the room warily.

The doe smirked as an idea came to him. Words were great and all, but it would bring the point across even more if he just showed Aster he was still interested.

"Time to get cracking," Esper muttered.

He strode across the room, grabbing the large trash can in the corner. He went to the desk first, pushing all the half eaten fruit into the basket. Once that was done, he turned his attention to the floor. He went around the room, collecting all the paper and shoving it into the waste basket.

"Hey, what do you know, there actually is a floor," Esper muttered, glancing over the previously covered grey stone.

The doe put the trash can back where it belonged before turning to the bookshelves in the room. Books were pushed haphazardly onto the shelves, stacked on top of each other and turned every which way.

"It is amazing you can function properly on your own," Esper said, chuckling. He quickly set to organizing the books, setting them up the right way and attempting to avoid having one of the wobbly piles fall and wake Aster.

Esper worked for nearly twenty minutes, eventually forgetting where he was and losing himself in the book titles. Aster really did have good, solid taste in fiction, but it seemed his educational pursuits were all over the place.

"Esper, what the heck are you doing!"

The doe spun around, startled by the sudden noise. Aster was sitting up in his nest, staring at the cleaning doe.

Esper flushed, "Well, I came to see you, but you were asleep, and your room was a mess, so…"

Aster gapped at him, flabbergasted at the doe's actions.

"You aren't mad, are you?" Esper asked warily.

"By gods no, but… aren't you mad about what happened with Amaya?" Aster asked.

"Phsst, that? Water under the bridge. I was pretty upset with Amaya, but not with you," Esper said, grinning.

Aster raised a brow, doubtful, "You're not mad about what I did?"

Esper rolled his eyes, "Aster, you went feral, it was a miracle you didn't do anything worse. You weren't in control, so I can't blame you for what you did."

Aster sighed, relieved, "That's good to hear, but did that really require breaking into my room and cleaning up my messes?"

"Honestly? Yes. Well, maybe not the cleaning part, but the breaking in part was definitely necessary," Esper said, "it wasn't even that hard, all I had to do was open the door. You really need to get a lock or something."

"Esper, this is a military barrack, locking your door is against protocol," Aster said.

"I guess so… Hey, speaking of which, I was wondering, how long do you plan on staying in the military?" Esper asked.

Aster blinked, "Why do you want to know?"

"Well, I don't fancy having to spend months waiting for a letter from you, so I'd like to know if you plan on staying so that I can figure out my living situations if I don't turn out to be the Queen," Esper explained.

Aster nodded slowly, "Fair enough. Honestly, I expected that you would end up mated to Aspen, so I had planned to make a career out of it. At least for a couple centuries."

"Well, I'm not mating with him. So, what's your plan soldier?"

Aster shrugged, "I don't know. If we end up mating, I would want to go back to Terra. From what I've heard, being mated and being a soldier don't mix well. Plus, it would be rather difficult to raise a family if I was constantly being sent all over the galaxy."

Esper nodded, "When does this tour end?"

Aster thought for a moment, "Ah, two months I think. When does your testing end?"

The doe grinned, "Only month or so. We only have a few more tests before the final one, but the Monarchs are busy with renewing the peace treaty with the Draconians, so they don't have much time to focus on us."

Aster hummed thoughtfully, "If it turns out that you aren't the Queen, will you come back to Terra?"

"Are you crazy? Of course I am! I want to see my little siblings grow up, maybe watch my parents have a third litter before I even _think _about setting out anywhere," Esper said, "besides, it was such an awesome place to grow up, I'd want my kits to have the same experience. Now, either stand up or move over, it's awkward to talk to someone who's laying down."

Aster flushed and stood up, "Right. Sorry about that."

Esper pouted, "Darn, I was hoping you would choose the latter."

"Esper, I am not letting a doe that I'm not mated to into my nest," Aster said, his nose darkening a shade.

"Aw, you're no fun," Esper said, chuckling.

The buck rolled his eyes at the other's antics. "One of us has to be responsible," Aster said, "That and I don't want Amaya ripping my face off."

Esper laughed, "Yeah, that would probably be pretty bad."

Aster smiled, "Do you want to sit down? There isn't much to choose from, but the chair over there isn't too bad."

Esper blinked, "Chair? I just see a thing covered in sketchbooks."

"Oh, haha, very funny Esper," Aster grumbled.

The doe laughed and walked over to the aforementioned chair, picking up the books sitting on the cushion and setting them to the side. He plopped down on the plush chair, watching as Aster pulled up the wooden chair sitting in front of the desk.

"So, how's it feel to be grounded as an adult?" Esper asked, smirking.

Aster growled, "Oh, shut up Esper, I'm not being 'grounded' thank you very much."

The doe laughed, "You sure about that? I'd call being forced to stay in your nest room by someone else being grounded."

Aster huffed and leaned back, glaring at Esper.

Esper poked his tongue out at the buck teasingly.

He glanced around at Aster's displaced belongings."Hey, can I look at these?" he asked, gesturing to the pile of sketchbooks.

Aster nodded, "Sure."

Esper grinned, "Awesome!" He picked a red book and immediately opened it to a random page. As soon as he glanced at the page a huge blush erupted under his fur, his ears immediately pinning to his neck.

"What is it?" Aster asked, bewildered.

"You really weren't kidding when you said you drew porn of me," Esper squeaked, showing Aster the drawing.

The picture depicted Esper leaning on his elbows, presenting as he was fucked from behind. A cock was pushing into his ass while semen was dripping from his hole.

Aster's eyes widened, "Shit!"

The buck lurched forward to grab the book. He ripped it from Esper's grip, blushing furiously.

The blushing pair avoided eye contact, staring at the suddenly very interesting floor.

"Well, one thing's for sure, you're definitely a really good artist," Esper said, attempting to break the ice.

Aster cringed, "I didn't mean for you to see that."

The doe nodded, "Well, you already admitted to have drawn it, so might as well let me see. I have a question though, is a buck's semen really that white, or is that just you?"

Aster's nose darkened. "This is really not how you should be reacting," Aster muttered.

Esper rolled his eyes, "If I start screaming and running for the hills will that make you feel better? I'll even tell Amaya and my Da if you want."

Aster cringed again, "Alright, point taken."

Esper grinned, "So, now that I have adequate blackmail material, shall we continue our discussion on what we plan to do later on in life while pretending that we aren't trying to figure out what will happen once we mate?"

Aster flushed, "Alright."

"Good! What do you think about kits?" Esper asked.

"Right to the point, huh? I definitely want them, but I don't want seven litters before we've been mated twenty years, I'd prefer to keep it slow at first," Aster explained, "what do you think?"

Esper nodded, "Understandable. I don't think I'd want to give birth to seven litters in twenty years, I'd probably drop over dead." He hesitated, "But, promise you won't laugh at what I'm about to say."

Aster raised a brow, "Why would I laugh, Esper?"

The doe flushed and avoided Aster's gaze. "Well, I've kind of always dreamed about living in a clan. A clan that I'd help found."

Aster blinked, "Well, I can see why you asked me not to laugh. Like I said, I wouldn't want to start trying right off the bat, but maybe once we've been mated for a while I'd be open to the idea."

Esper let out a breath he didn't know he had been holding. "That's a relief, I was kind of worried that I'd scare you off with that one," he said, chuckling.

The buck smirked, "You'll have to try a lot harder if you want to scare me off, Snowflake."

Esper blinked, "Snowflake?"

Aster grinned nervously, "You don't mind do you?"

The doe laughed, "Definitely not, I think it's sweet. Now, question two, can you cook? 'Cause I burn everything I touch, regardless if fire is involved or not."

The buck raised a brow, "Yes. I could teach you if you want."

Esper shook his head furiously, waving his arms wildly, "Believe me, you do not want me anywhere near the kitchen if you value your life."

"Fair enough. My turn now. Will you mind if I leave my sketchbooks everywhere? I always mean to put them away, but it never ends up happening."

"I won't, but once we have kits, you should probably try to keep the more… explicit stuff hidden," Esper said.

"That's a given. I don't think they would need to be scarred that early in life," Aster said, blushing slightly.

The doe nodded, "How big of a garden would you want? I enjoy it and all, but I don't want to look after a giant plot of land."

"I love gardening, but I think just one that's slightly larger than average and maybe some flowers would do it for me," the buck explained, "Do you think that we'll need a separate room for our arts? Painting and sculpting aren't exactly the cleanest past times, so doing them in the living room wouldn't be a very good idea."

"That sounds like a good idea, I don't think a paint splattered living room would be very attractive," Esper said.

Aster chuckled, "Probably not."

The pair fell silent for a moment. "Could I watch you paint?" Esper asked, "Like, now?"

Aster blinked, "Sure, but why? Watching someone paint isn't exactly the most interesting thing in the universe."

"I know, but I want to," the doe said.

"Sure, I need to get this painting done anyway," Aster said.

The buck stood and walked over to the easel, hyper aware of the doe watching him. He picked up the canvas and placed it on the easel. He pulled out a hidden compartment, grabbing the colors he would need and a paint covered tablet. He squeezed the paint onto the tablet, grabbing a brush from a cup and mixing them together. Aster went at the canvas with renewed vigor, spurred on by the doe's watchful eyes.

Esper watched as the sunset slowly came to life under Aster's expert brush, reds and oranges dancing across the painted sky. He yawned and settled down in the comfortable chair, content to watch the buck paint.

"Esper? Esper, wake up."

The doe yawned and opened his eyes, blinking as Aster came into view.

"Oh, shoot, did I fall asleep? I'm sorry, I didn't mean to do that," he said.

Aster chuckled, "It's fine. Maybe you should get back to your rooms so you can continue your nap."

Esper nodded sluggishly and stood up, "I'll do that, thanks for letting me watch you by the way."

The buck nodded, "It was my pleasure, Snowflake."

Esper grinned, "See you later Aster." He walked over to the door, and with one last look back at Aster, left.


	20. Chapter 19

Esper sighed and closed his book, setting it beside him on the couch. "You know, staring at me isn't going to get me to talk to you," he said.

Amaya groaned, "Come on, Esper, I'm bored! You came all the way over to my rooms, the least you could do is talk to me!"

Esper snorted, "Amaya, I came over here to stop you from trying to sneak out, _again_. You couldn't even manage to spend a decent amount of time outside before you got caught!"

The larger of the two huffed, "I don't exactly blend in, little brother."

The white doe laughed, "That's for sure."

"You know, if I had some help then maybe I'd last a bit longer," Amaya suggested.

The doe grinned, "Now you're making some sense! So, what's the plan, General?"

Amaya smirked, "Here's what we'll do. You go to leave, but just as you start to close the door, you pretend to trip and drop your book. Once the guards are distracted, you make me invisible and I sneak out into the hallway. Then we just walk away. You can make other people invisible, right?"

Esper nodded, "I can hold it for a little bit. You'll need to get away as fast as possible though."

Amaya grinned, "Perfect! Let's go!"

Esper chuckled, "This is either going to go perfectly or completely blow up in our faces."

The buck snorted, "Come one brother, have a little faith!"

Esper shook his head and stood up, walking back to the front door, Amaya following him. He pushed it open, looking at the two guards in the hallway. Two young looking bucks. Hopefully they couldn't detect illusions.

The doe reached out with his magic, cloaking his sister in a familiar distorted aura. Once he was sure she was covered, Esper stumbled, dropping the book of spells.

The guard closest to him reached down and picked it up. The doe smiled sheepishly as she offered it to him.

"Sorry about that," Esper said, rubbing his head embarrassedly.

The guard nodded, stepping back to resume her previous position.

Esper could feel Amaya rushing down the hallway, his magic luckily still covering her. He followed after her, desperately holding the illusion up.

Luckily, they quickly reached an exit. Esper pushed the door open, allowing Amaya to go first before stepping through himself. As soon as it clicked shut behind him Esper dropped the illusion, revealing Amaya to the outside sunlight.

"That was awesome!" she crowed, grinning widely, "Now what do you want to do? How about we go look around the city? Maybe if we go far enough we'll reach the interstellar district! It'd be so cool to meet a Draconian or a Lunarian!"

Esper nodded, "Alright. Aster and I stayed pretty close to the castle, so going further would be cool."

Amaya blinked. "When did you go out with him? And why for that matter?"

Esper snorted, "I don't know, maybe because I'm courting him? You know, normal people go on Outings when they're courting. Aster and I do that too. You know, because we're courting."

Amaya huffed, "Doesn't mean I like it."

"Well, I didn't ask you, did I?" Esper hissed, "Now, come on, I want to go see things before everyone realizes you snuck out."

"You snuck out too," Amaya said, starting down the walkway.

Esper shook his head and walked after her. "I'm not the one under house arrest, Amaya," he said, "I'm allowed to go out whenever I want."

"Oh sure, rub it in why don't you," Amaya muttered.

They turned off the bridge into the main flow of traffic.

Esper rolled his eyes, "It's your fault that you're in trouble in the first place. Now, enough of this, I want to see the city. Do you think I should go grab some money?"

Amaya shook her head, "Nah, we can come back to get stuff later. Just remember where the shop is."

Esper nodded. "So, how's it going with that doe you're interested in? Has she gotten sick of you yet?" he asked.

His sister growled, "Don't be a brat Esper!"

The doe laughed, "Aw, but I'm so good at it!"

The pair turned down a pathway that pointed to the interstellar district. They could see the ground level nearly ten floors below them, the main road even busier that the winding paths far above it.

Amaya seemed to be looking at everything, her head constantly whipping around to see the sights the city had to offer.

Esper grinned, "It's amazing, isn't it?"

"No doubt," Amaya agreed, "it's very different from home."

The doe nodded, "It's really incredible what a few people with tools can create when they set their minds to it."

Amaya nodded, "That's for sure. How many people do you think live here? I mean, we've passed at least a hundred people in the five minutes we've been out, how large is the city?"

Esper shrugged, "No clue. I know the planet's resident population is somewhere around four billion though."

Amaya shook her head, "That is far too many people. How do they all avoid getting claustrophobic constantly?"

"Beats me," Esper said, "the palace alone seems too cramped to me, never mind the actual city."

Up ahead, the siblings could just barely glimpse the large, climbing Draconian looking towers. The buildings had been constructed centuries ago during the first few years of peace between the two races. Now that they were away from the Citadel, the huge spires dominated the skyline, vague shapes flying in and out of balconies on the upper floors. One of the first acts of good will between the former enemies was for the Pooka to build the area for their new allies, keeping in mind the Draconians avian nature.

Esper shuddered unconsciously as he eyes the buildings.

As a species, the Pooka were generally wary of heights, betraying their nature as burrowing creatures.

A large underground network under the Draconians capital had been constructed for the Pooka in response to their gift, but as the planet was so hot and barren, few pooka outside ambassadors stayed there for any amount of time.

"Esper, why do you still have that book with you?" Amaya asked, gesturing to the volume he still had clenched in his paw.

He blinked, looking down at the book. "Well, I didn't exactly have a chance to put it down," he said.

Amaya snorted, "You better not lose it," she said.

Esper rolled his eyes, "I won't, I'm not that careless you know."

His sister shook her head. "Fine, but I'm not going to be responsible if you leave it somewhere in the city."

"You have no faith in me whatsoever do you?" Esper asked.

Amaya grinned, "Nope! Hey, look at that! We're already at the gates!"

The doe turned, surprised to see the extravagant gates that separated the two sides of the city.

The gates were extremely impressive to look at, but their purpose was merely for aesthetics. Draconians could fly over at any time if they wished, while Lunarians could simply walk through the large gaps between the golden bars.

Esper had always thought the gates were just a waste of time a resources. After all, what was the point of gates that couldn't stop anyone?

The twins continued their trek, staying on their walkway to avoid the longer line at the bottom of the gates.

On every level was a real gate, each guarded by four guards, two on each side of the doorway. Unlike the decorative barrier, these served a true purpose.

In each species capital, it was illegal for someone of another race to enter the heart of the city without permission, and these helped prevent criminals and thrill seekers alike. Though it was incredibly difficult for them to do it, both of the other races could achieve the shapeshifting that came naturally to the Pooka. The guards were all specially trained to read someone's magical signature to discover their true species and pick out the shifters.

Esper and Amaya exchanged an excited glance as they neared the checkpoint, eager to finally get out and meet other kinds of people.

A small line of pooka trickled through the open door, largely ignoring the posted guards. The Winters passed without incident, emerging on the other side of the barrier.

They come out into a large crowd going about their daily lives.

"So, where to know?" Amaya asked.

Esper shrugged, looking around at the crowd surrounding them. At the moment he could only see pooka, but every once in a while he caught a glace of scaly wings or pale skin.

"How about, since we know nothing about the city, we just wander around and hope we don't get lost?" Esper suggested.

Amaya snorted, "That's a great plan, Esper. I think you should come up with all of our ideas from now on."

Esper grinned, "It's about time you recognized my genius."

His sister rolled her eyes, "Come on, let's just follow the crowd and see where it takes us."

Esper nodded, "Alright."

The two meandered along, silently observing the area around them.

This part of the city was built in a slightly rougher manner, reflecting the people that had originally lived there.

They scoured the crowd, trying to find a member of another species. It only two minutes before the twins spotted their first Lunarians.

A Lunarian female- women, Esper thought they were called- was haggling with a Pookan street vendor over the produce in the stand. She had a young male- boy- with her, presumably her son.

"How are they not cold without fur?" Amaya wondered, "I mean, clothes don't exactly look warm to me."

Esper shrugged, "No clue. I would think the lack of fur would be handy in warmer climates though."

"I suppose," Amaya muttered. With that experience in mind, they resumed their wandering, eager to see a Draconian.

Draconians, Esper mused, were an interesting species.

The first sentient race to evolve, they were reptilian as opposed to the mammalian nature of the other two. They were bipedal, but like the Pooka, they could move down to all fours for greater speed. On top of that they had huge wings that had a nearly fifteen foot wing span. They were covered in hard scales and equipped with sharp talons, making them formidable predators.

Another difference between them and the other races was that the Draconians were carnivores while Lunarians and Pooka were herbivores. Well, technically the Lunarians were omnivores, but after they had come into the more technologically advanced and peaceful Pooka they had renounced eating meat, citing that it inspired violence and greed in their population.

Amaya nudged his shoulder. "Esper, look over there," she said, nodding toward the edge of the platform.

A red-brown Draconian was perched on the railing, his wings partially extended behind him.

At least Esper thought it was a him, there was very little difference between the males and females of their kind. The females were just slightly larger than the males, so it was hard to tell which sex they were at first glance.

The Draconian looked up suddenly, staring right and the twins. He bared his fangs in what appeared in amusement, his wings just slightly flaring up behind him.

Esper bristled instinctively, the sight of teeth intently setting off long repressed alarms.

The Draconian chuffed once before standing and jumping backwards, fully extending his leathery wings to catch his weight. He fell from sight for a moment before suddenly shooting up, his long tail streaming behind him. Amaya whistled in amazement at the sight.

"They're so lucky, they get to fly," she murmured enviously.

Esper raised a brow. "You can shift into something with wings anytime you wanted," he pointed out.

Amaya shook her head, "I know, but full species transformation is so uncomfortable and draining. Even if I did I would still have to learn how to fly and even then wouldn't be able to fly for that long. The freedom to fly is just so cool, just imagine what you could do if you could fly whenever you wanted!"

Esper chuckled, "That would be pretty cool. Still what would you do to be able to fly constantly? Enchant a staff or something?"

His sister growled in annoyance. "You just love crushing my dreams don't you?" she hissed.

Esper laughed, "Yep! Now come on Birdy, we should keep going."

"Don't call me that."

The siblings spent the next hour roaming the city, taking in the city and the people.

Eventually they made their way to a bridge between two elevated walkways. There were tables scattered around, full of people eating lunch and conversing. Esper and Amaya had gone to an isolated corner to avoid the bulk of the crowd.

"I just don't see the point of it," Amaya argued, "Why would you bother to make weapons when you have claws?"

Esper rolled his eyes, "Amaya, we have claws."

"I know, but not those huge talons, ours are retractable. I mean how do they use swords with four inch claws on the end of their fingers?"

"It's easier than it looks," a deep hissing voice said.

The siblings looked up as a semi familiar Draconian walked up to them.

"At least, I assume you are talking about us," he continued.

Amaya cringed, "No offense meant."

A rumbling sound, presumably laughter, came from the newcomer's chest. "None taken. My name is Damien, I'm the draconian you two were staring at earlier," the newly dubbed Damien said.

Esper flushed, "Sorry about that. My name's Esper Harlow, this is my sister Amaya." Amaya nodded in greeting.

Damien dipped his head, "It is a pleasure to meet you. Let me guess, you two are newly arrived in the city? Most likely from an all Pooka colony?"

"That's about right, though we've been in the city for nearly a month now. We just haven't have the opportunity to come to the International district yet," Amaya explained.

"That is understandable, meeting other races for the first time can be quite startling. If you haven't had the ability to travel, it is correct to presume you have been working in your Citadel?" the Draconian asked.

The twins exchanged a glace. "We're in the Citadel, but we're not working there," Esper said.

Damien blinked, "Really? I thought no none functional adults were allowed to stay in the Citadel… Wait, are you by chance the pair that is being tested for the position of the Winter Monarch?"

"Yes. But how did you know that? That information hasn't been released to the general public," Amaya said, standing a little straighter.

The same rumbling noise came from the chest of their companion. "I am not a member of the public. I am an ambassador between our people, here to help with the renewal of our peace treaty. I was informed of your situation to help prevent any incidents from taking place," Damien said.

The twins nodded in acceptance. Their companion looked up at the sky briefly before addressing them again.

"I will be needed back at the Citadel. I hope I will see you two again," Damien said.

Without waiting for a response Damien turned and walked to the nearest railing. Just like the last time they'd seen him, he jumped off the platform and flew off.

"Well, that was sudden," Amaya commented.

Esper nodded in agreement.

"We should probably be getting back too, someone will start missing us soon," he said.

"Yeah, let's go," Amaya said.


End file.
